


Bleeding Dreams and Nightmares

by Goldenpetal13



Series: Dreams and Nightmares [5]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Abusive Relationship, Angst, Dream!Pack, Dubious Consent, Forced Relationship, M/M, Magic is now a thing, Non-Con (mostly in past), Various OCs - Freeform, kiddnapping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-25
Updated: 2016-03-27
Packaged: 2018-01-20 18:15:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 26
Words: 43,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1520612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldenpetal13/pseuds/Goldenpetal13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU – Set beginning of March, things are good in Stiles’ life right now, except for that pesky piece of land in Florida.  Peter has to sign the land away in person, in Florida, it’s should be easy, but when is anything easy for Peter and Stiles?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rules changes of this AU. Sixteen is both the age of consent and the age kid’s are legally considered adults though most stay in high school until eighteen before going to college.
> 
> Rated M
> 
> Warnings: Non con (mostly in the past), dub-con (Stiles is more accepting of Peter, though I’ve kept the warning to be on the safe side), domestic violence (in the past), abusive relationships, excess angst, show level violence and death, thin plot (squint and it might be there), generally being evil to Stiles. Oh and both Peter and Stiles will go OOC as they attempt to get along with each other (plus the traumas Stiles has gone through have changed him)
> 
> Don’t like don’t read, though constructive criticism is always welcome (plus any reviews). Also if you count the days in Wounded Dreams and Nightmares they might not all fit into a normal calendar, I’m aware of that and I’m sorry for the author fail.
> 
> I own nothing, literally.

Peter’s screaming in pain.

 

The metal shackles hold him upright as the electricity courses through his body, twisting it up, and then leaving him hanging limp in his restraints. His hair is shorn short like mine used to be, there’s the beginnings of a beard on his face.

 

All around him is damp stone that smells like rot and mould.

 

And then someone walks up to him. I can’t see who it is, but I do see their right arm flash forward to punch through his chest, and barely a second later the man rips Peter’s still beating heart out of his chest.

 

Peter doesn’t get a chance to scream this time, he just dies, and the world is drowned in wrenching grief and loss before it explodes into a bright light, and my mom calls my name, “Stiles!”

 

Except someone is shaking me awake and I can just make out Peter’s face in front of mine in the semi darkness of our bedroom. Scrabbling at his chest I try to find the gaping wound in his chest. Only my hands can’t find anything except smooth naked skin. He’s okay, he’s okay. The faint light from the electronic picture frame gives me just enough light to see his hair is dishevelled and messy, but long, it’s long, not shorn. His face has barely any stubble on it, it’s soft and smooth under my fingers.

 

“Stiles, did you have the nightmare again?” He’s concerned and caring.

 

“Yeah,” And I’m starting to shake even as my stomach twists. I’m about to bolt for the bathroom when his arms scoop me up and he carries me to the bathroom. He’s faster than I’d be so I have plenty of time to reach the toilet before I vomit up my dinner, again.

 

A big, warm, fluffy, towel is wrapped around me as I kneel on the tiles and empty my stomach. “It’s okay,” He murmurs and kisses the back of my neck. “I’m here Stiles, I’m okay, it’s going to be okay.”

 

And that is such a lie.

 

Spitting into the toilet I don’t bother to turn my head to glare at him, “Yeah Peter, it’s going to be great, because none of my visions have ever come true before.”

 

“Now Stiles,” He pets my shoulder and I let my head rest of the lip of the toilet as I get my strength back. “We’re taking every precaution we can. The ghouls are getting extra security for me. I’m going to have a tracking device on me at all times. I’m even having a ghoul with me at all times. I’m flying into Miami in the dead of night, I’m signing that stupid document, in person, and then I’m flying home.”

 

He hands me a glass of water so I can swish my mouth out. “I’ll be perfectly safe, Mr Williams is taking your vision very seriously. I’ll have more security than the President, and you’ll get your own set of bodyguards, just in case. Then once this is over, we’ll be rid of that damn tract of land in Florida and there’ll be no more problems.”

 

And yeah I know all that, “Awesome,” I grunt at him, “If it’s so safe, then why am I still having the damn vision? It’s always the same. You’re tortured with electricity, then someone rips your heart out so you die and it goes bright and I hear my mom calling me Peter. Why isn’t the vision changing? We’re changing so many things, the vision should change too.”

 

Oh god, the damn headache is coming now.

 

He picks me up again and carries me back to bed, “I don’t know Stiles,” he admits as he tucks me in. “So I’m going in with the assumption I’m out matched in every way. I’m going to have multiple escape routes. And I’m happy for the hired help to take all the bullets for me.” He climbs into bed and wiggles up next to me, “I refuse to take risks Stiles, I have too much to live for, I have you to come home to.”

 

Wriggling around in his arms I push him onto his back and then flop over him so I can listen to his heart beating under my ear, “Don’t go,” I urge him again.

 

Sighing softly his fingers trace down my back, “Stiles. We’ve discussed this. In order for me to get rid of this land one of us has to sign in person. And the only way you’ll be the one signing is over my dead body. It’s just a few hours and then I’m going to be home again.”

 

“I don’t like this, it feels wrong,” I mutter into his chest and his arms tighten around me. “I should go with you. It’s just a day. I’m totally up to date with all my school work. My grades are stupidly high.” I lift up on my arms so I can look down into his face.

 

“No,” He has his ‘I’m not going to back down’ voice on. “I won’t risk you Stiles. I’ve nearly lost you too many times. You’ll stay here, safe, with extra protection. Neither of us is going to do anything heroic. And when I get back, safe and sound, I’ll be more careful about what land I buy for us.”

 

“And you think I’m willing to risk you?” I’m close to yelling at him.

 

“Stiles,” He sort of surges up and presses his cheek against mine. “My Stiles, my mate, my everything. No I don’t think you’d risk me. Not anymore. I will not risk myself either. I won’t. I promise.”

 

“Damn it Peter,” I lower my upper body down so it’s resting on him and let him lower us both back down to the bed.

 

“I promise I’m not going to risk either of us Stiles. I promise I’m taking your dreams seriously. I’ve seen how right your visions are. And I’d be an idiot to not worry over this,” His hands slide around me and hold me tight against him. “I’ve worked too hard to get you into my life willingly Stiles. To make you as happy as I can. I won’t lose you. I won’t.”

 

If by willingly he means ‘persuading’ me, then I guess he’s right. But he is totally right about doing everything he can to make me happy. He tries so hard to make my life with him good. He’s also succeeding in that category far too well.

 

“You listen to the bodyguards,” I tell him, “You do everything without arguing and rolling your eyes the way you do. Promise me.”

 

“I promise,” He says and rolls us so we’re face to face on our sides. “I promise to be a very good little Peter and do everything I can to come back to you Stiles. I promise.”

 

“Good,” I say as fiercely as I can, then I kiss him, hard, unforgiving. Breaking the kiss I rest my forehead against his. “I’m holding you to that promise Peter.”

 

We don’t get any more sleep. I’m too busy huddling in our bed and holding onto Peter to sleep anymore, blinding headache or not, I can’t seem to let him go. He’s too busy holding onto me and comforting me. I’m still a little conflicted about Peter and staying with him. But the dream felt so real, and so did that flash of grief I felt at losing him. Like part of me was ripped out along with his heart. Like losing him is something that I’m not prepared to survive, like he’s already so much a part of me I can’t live without him anymore.

 

And lastly like I’ve already made the decision to stay with him.


	2. Chapter 2

School is school.  I do my lessons and hang out with my friends.  Seriously this school is so much better than Beacon Hills.  When my ADHD gets too much my teachers don’t punish me, they try and help me learn coping methods, things that I can use for the rest of my life.  They don’t think being ADHD is something that needs to be cured, it’s just a different way of being.

 

I love going to school here.  The lessons challenge me, push me, force me to work for once, dare me to keep up with them.  I don’t hate getting up in the morning, it’s not a struggle anymore to walk into a building. I’m not trapped in here for hours of unending boredom and loneliness.

 

Waving goodbye to my friends I walk home and meet up with my Dream pack.  They’re as anxious as I am about Peter leaving.  I have a feeling a few of them are going to push for me to contact Beacon Hills while Peter is away, but no one there has tried to contact me, they haven’t tried to do anything to get hold of me.  Dad is remarried to Melissa, Scott has my family now, and it’s not like anyone else really gave a shit about me. They’re all better off without me.

 

Peter does care about me though and I listen as my Pack tell me that we have lots of visitors.  Some of them are Peter’s bodyguards, some of them are mine, and a few of them are ghouls.

 

Getting home I’m met with a huge number of people in our tiny little home.  A home with hastily erected clothes rails scattered all over because Peter bought way too many clothes in New York.  I know Mr Williams, our ghoul lawyer, and I recognise some of the scary human mercenaries from New York, the guy with the silver lion badge is here too, he’s my main bodyguard.

 

Awesome. Not.

 

Some of them are clustered around Peter and to my surprise they’re fitting him with modified body armour.  I get to see my husband turn into a monster and back again a few times as he checks the fit of the armour.  He can change shape and the armour is built to go with the change.  It makes me feel a bit better, especially when I learn it’s got special insulation to protect him against electricity, and there’s extra protection over his heart area too.  They really are taking my vision seriously.

 

Mr Williams is briefing all the security on Peter’s schedule.  There’s a very small window where he’s actually in Miami, and there’s additionally security at various safe houses.  Peter’s memorising where they are, what the codes are, and if he can get his hands on any phone the numbers he can call so the call can be traced and he can be located anywhere.

 

They are really going over the top with this but it still feels wrong, I don’t want him to go and I barely touch my food, I just want him to stay.

 

Pushing away my food I go to our bedroom and sit on our bed.  God just months ago I would be doing a damn happy dance at him leaving, I’d be planning to run, to get away from him, or learning how to kill him so I’d be free of him.  Instead I end up curled up miserably on our bed and feeling helpless because I can’t protect him.

 

“Stiles?” It’s my dream dad.  “Son?  He’s an Alpha werewolf.  He’s smart.  He’s survived things that would have killed other people, and he even survived death.”

 

I nod and accept all that but I don’t want him to go.  I want him to stay.  I need him to stay.

 

Dream Melissa kneels down on the floor and gives me a long look, “Stiles, you know I’m not his biggest fan.  After everything he’s ever done, or not done, or helped screw up, I’d be happiest if he was dead and cut in two,” I shake my head at her words, losing Peter is rapidly becoming a very bad thing to me.  “But I’ve also seen a man who worships you, who is trying to be a good partner for you, even if he lacks the ability to be truly human anymore, even if all he is, is a monster, but he’s a monster that wants you to be happy, loved, wanted, all the things you deserve.”  I blink at her not expecting that.  “I’m not your mom, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you, that I don’t want you to be happy, and Peter does try to make you happy.”

 

I nod because annoyingly he does make me happy.  He’s proved he wants me to be happy, and he’s so damn good at faking being human that it’s easy to forget what a psycho he really is.

 

“Exactly,” she smiles at me, “So use this time away from him to see how you feel about him.”  I cock my head at her not understanding what she’s getting at.  “Stiles, your very soul is bound to his now.  So see how you really feel when he’s not around and he’s not touching you all the time.  Be as unbiased in your choice to stay with him as you can be.”

 

Stunned I lay there and that is some really good advice, I just wish he wasn’t going to Florida, to the place I keep having visions about, to the place I’m convinced he’s going to die at.

 

In front of my eyes Melissa flickers and then vanishes, I lift my head to see Peter leaning on the door jam and watching me, “You have that look,” is all he has to say.  He’s accepted that I have imaginary versions of the Pack and my family running around better than I expected, but he does have a very jealous and possessive streak, one I’m careful not to provoke, he won’t hurt me, but I don’t want him to do anything rash.

 

“Dad was telling me that you’re an Alpha werewolf and he reminded me that you came back from the dead,” I give Peter only a small part of the story as he walks over and kneels down where Melissa was only seconds ago.

 

Nodding Peter leans forward to kiss my nose, “All very true.  I’m also an Alpha werewolf who is wearing body armour, who is going to listen to his bodyguards, without rolling his eyes too much, and who is going to come back to his wonderful and amazing Mate.”

 

“You’d better,” I grunt at him and then lunge towards him, he catches me, he always catches me.  “Melissa also said you make me happy and I deserve to be happy.”

 

“You do,” His arms are warm and strong, “You deserve all the happiness in the world Stiles, and I will do anything to make you happy my little raven child.”

 

“Then come home, make me happy Peter,” I murmur into his ear.  I also take a moment to nibble on the shell of his ear.  Since Valentines we’ve been working on our physical relationship and he was right, again.  As long as it’s me taking the initiative, and I get to have control over what happens, I can tolerate, even enjoy some really intimate things.  Hell I’ve been getting erections and keeping them recently, I’ve even fantasised about Peter and what I want us to do, mostly harmless things but it’s more than I’ve been able to do since Brad.

 

I even have a new therapist, she’s sweet and doesn’t keep saying, “And how did that make you feel Stiles,” I don’t hate going to see her, she likes online games too, so we can talk about all sorts of stuff.  We haven’t made any major breakthroughs but it’s early days yet.

 

Shuddering, and getting glowing red eyes, he turns his head to kiss my mouth, “Believe me Stiles, if I could get out of leaving you, I would.  I want to spend the rest of my life beside you.  The thought of spending every second of every day with you is paradise to me,” and that thought would have sent me screaming in the opposite direction when I first started with this with him, but now it’s just another sign of how much loves me, how much he wants me in his life.

 

There’s a knock on the doorframe and a cough, “I’m very sorry sirs, but Mr Stilinski needs to leave in the next ten minutes,” It’s one of the bodyguards, “We have a plane to catch.”

 

For a few seconds rage flickers on Peter’s face and then it vanishes, the face he shows to the bodyguard is calm and collected, “I’ll be right there.”

 

“We’ll be right there,” I let go of Peter reluctantly and sit up, “I’ll see you to the door Peter.  And then you’re going to do everything you can to live and come back to me.”

 

“Yes,” He stands up gracefully as I flounder to my feet.  “Nothing, short of death, is going to keep me from you Stiles, there is nowhere on this Earth I cannot find you.  We will always be together. No one will ever separate us, I won’t allow it.”

 

Taking his hand in mine I squeeze it and lead him from the bedroom.  Everyone is ready.  All I have time for is a quick hug, a very brief kiss, and then he has to leave me.  He looks back as he steps through the front door and out into the night, he’s got his amiable mask on so I can’t read his real mood.  I wave at him and he nods.

 

When the door closes behind them my shoulders slump, and a feeling of impending doom rolls over me, almost suffocating me.  My bodyguards stand around and do body guarding things as I putter around the house.  I’m restless and wired, I don’t want to sleep, I just want Peter to come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments, I’m glad I made your days just that little bit brighter.


	3. Chapter 3

I try sleeping, I don’t do very well at it. I don’t bother getting undressed, I just lay on the bed with a blanket and bury my face in one of Peter’s t-shirts. Dream Isaac is with me and he keeps me calm as I doze on and off all night. I barely slept the night before either so I wake cranky and tired.

 

God I can’t wait for Peter to get back.

 

My main bodyguard informs me that the plane with Peter in it will be in Miami soon. The armoured car is ready for him. The extra security is doing sweeps of the office he’s going to be going to for the big signing away of the land moment. And my stomach twists up anyway. He should be here with me, he shouldn’t be there, something is going to go wrong.

 

I nod and then stumble off to go and shower. I do have school to go to after all. I’m tempted to ditch the shower but this is first time I’ve been allowed to shower on my own in a long time and I’m going to enjoy it.

 

Closing the bedroom door I hurry to the shower room and close the bathroom door too. That’s kinda weird, normally we don’t bother with closing the door because it’s just the two of us.

 

Stripping down I let my clothes fall to the floor in a messy pile, they make a very nice little heap and I grin at defying Peter’s neat freakiness.

 

Stepping into the shower I hold my arms out and luxuriate in having all this room to myself. There’s no Peter to crowd me, to bump into, and no one to tell me what to do. Turning on the shower I let the water hit me and I stand there humming off key as I soak under the spray. I can use as much hot water as I like, Peter made sure there would always be enough hot water for both of us, and a small army of grimy people.

 

Sighing I roll my shoulders and stand there a bit longer.

 

It takes me a few minutes to realise I’m going to have to wash myself. God I’ve not done that since we finished our road trip and got home, the occasional soak in a bath doesn’t count. Grabbing the shower gel I start lathering myself up and it’s so weird to wash myself. It’s a balancing act to do my feet and the bit between my toes. I squirm around a lot to do my back but miss most of it as my hands aren’t double jointed. My hair is so much longer than I’m used to, it’s really grown out, Peter trims it to stop it getting too long, but it’s different to how I used to have it before Peter.

 

Rinsing myself off I’m forced to dry myself too. It’s not so bad, I’m an independent guy, I’ve done this for years, I can totally handle this. My shaving is done in a flash, and then I try to do my hair. Dream Lydia and Allison try to coax me through using the gel, and then Derek weighs in too. Between us it doesn’t end up too bad, I may look a bit like I stuck my fingers in an electrical socket rather than my normal awesome self, I just need some practice.

 

Wandering into the bedroom I debate what to wear with Lydia and then put my ensemble layered outfit on while she protests in the background. Turning to call out to Peter and tease him about the unsuitability of my colour scheme, I pause and sigh, he’s not here to roll his eyes at me and mention that fluorescent yellow and vomit green should be removed from all t-shirt designs, he’d like the lego lightsabers on the front though, he’s as geeky as I am about stuff like that.

 

Dream Erika coughs and points to my I-phone, “Yo Batman, you missed a trick,” she pulls a face at me and I grin at her in thanks, I can send Peter a selfie of me in my outfit.

 

Two minutes later I stroll out of our bedroom and smirk as the little picture is sent to Peter. Just because he’s hundreds of miles away doesn’t mean he should miss out of my eye ball bleeding coloured t-shirts. He sends me a text back complaining his eyes are bleeding.

 

I have to make my own breakfast, some soggy cereal instead of fluffy omelettes. I nearly forget my medication but dad reminds me and I leave the house with my scary bodyguard and no goodbye kiss, no promise of being there for me, and no hug. I walk to school silently, my bodyguard doesn’t try to make small talk and I don’t really feel like it anyway.

 

“Mr Stilinski,” The man finally talks as the school comes into view, the little silver lion pin he has on his jacket flashes in the weak March sun. “I’ll be right outside the whole time sir, if you need anything please just let me know.”

 

“Okay,” I tell him and drag myself into school , my friends greet me warmly but give me space too, I’m really grouchy and missing Peter. Today is going to take forever I can just tell. Though I’m intrigued by where the bodyguard is going to stay and not be conspicuous, Derek and Scott hunt him down, he’s hiding on top of the school and patrolling to make sure he has most of the entrances covered.

 

The morning crawls by and I find myself squirming in the last ten minutes before lunch. I’ve been getting updates on my phone. Peter arrived safely in Miami. He arrived at the offices safely. The other party are dragging their feet so security just got even more paranoid, and I’m even more worried for Peter now.

 

Hurrying out of the classroom when the bell rings I head for the nearest toilet. I really need to pee. To combat the fact that I’m exhausted and keep yawning, Aaron got me a coke, only stimulates work slightly differently on me but the caffeine as a diuretic has worked like a charm. This is the second time I’ve had to pee at school this morning.

 

Luckily the room is empty and I go straight to a cubicle. The only person I can pee in front of is Peter, I hate other people seeing me pee, it makes me really uncomfortable.

 

Bladder empty I amble to the nearest sink and wash my hands. When my mom was in hospital dad and I learnt how to wash our hands properly. It’s ingrained in me now to wash them that way and then I rinse. The water cleans the last of the soap away and I reach for the facet when the water suddenly runs red and gloopy. Stepping back I catch a flicker of something behind me from a reflection in the mirror.

 

Spinning and getting ready to run I see a little girl, she looks about five or so, and she’s not only see through she glows. She’s watching me sadly and there are ropes of dark red looped all around her, they bind her hands in front of her and then she’s gone. I’m alone in the boys’ toilets again.

 

Checking out the running water in the sink I can see it’s back to normal.

 

Turning off the tap I leave and go to dinner, I wish Peter where here I could talk to him about this. I’ll have to wait until after school to talk to Uncle Richard instead. He probably won’t be a huge amount of help, he’s a shaman not a necromancer, and that little girl looked just like the two boys and girl I set free from some amulets last year.

 

Anxiously I rub at my Mating mark, it tingles under my touch and then flares as Peter must be touching his too. It calms me down and I eat with my friends, I try and join in with them but they all know I’m worried about Peter.

 

If the morning dragged by the afternoon slows further and I stare at the clock willing it to go faster. The so called quick signing is being stalled and Peter is still in Miami. Something is going on, and something bad is going to happen. I fidget in my seat and take notes without really listening to the teacher.

 

By the time the lesson ends both of my knees are bouncing up and down and I’m almost drumming my pen on the table. Luckily she doesn’t get upset with me and sends me to the nurse’s office to calm down. Since Agnus is there I get fussed over and she distracts me for a while, long enough for school to finish and I bolt for the front door.

 

My scary bodyguard is waiting for me and walks me home, “Mr Stilinski, the signing is still being stalled. More security is being drafted in and is setting up now. We’ve begun emergency simulations to extract the other Mr Stilinski as soon as he’s signed. We have three decoy teams ready to roll to limit the enemies’ chances of targeting Mr Stilinski, and the ghouls have pressured a few judges into stepping in, if the signing isn’t completed within the hour the land automatically transfers to the state.”

 

And the offshoot Argent clan who have blocked any use of that land for the last sixty years will be forced to deal with the state from then on. They should just accept that Peter wants shot of the land and take it from him, he’s offering them an amazing deal. Only they are an offshoot of the Argent clan and they’re considered crazy, even by other hunters, this isn’t going to end well.

 

“’Kay, thanks,” I mutter and stomp along beside him, not only do I have to worry about Peter and a band of insane hunters, but now I want to know who the little girl was that I saw in the toilets.

 

We’re nearly home and crossing the road when my bodyguard’s phone rings, he answers it and then glances at me, “I’ll let Mr Stilinski know the good news. The signing has happened and Mr Stilinski is leaving the building now.”

 

Instead of relaxing I tense up further and then the mark on my wrist flares, but not in a good way, it burns and pain tears up my arm. I whimper and grip it in my other arm as my legs give out. Crashing to the ground I grit out, “Peter! Something’s wrong, something’s wrong.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning:- Slight spoiler alert but I don't want to spring this on anyone. So triggers include bombs/bombing and kidnapping.

Standing over me my bodyguard is yelling into his phone and there are bodies running towards us. They turn out to be more bodyguards and a ghoul. I’m lifted up and carried inside as my Mating mark continues to burn and send pain up my arm and into my body. I might whimper but I don’t scream, even though I really want to.

 

Laid on the couch I’m barely aware of people scurrying around and then as suddenly as it started the pain stops. My Mating mark goes quiet and I breathe out in relief feeling drained and exhausted. God I’m even more tired right now, like someone just sucked a bunch of energy out of me. Struggling to sit up I look over at my bodyguard and he’s all but vibrating in place as he stays glued to his cell phone and tersely says, “So use the damn traffic cams. Find that van.”

 

Oh holy mother of god, Peter.

 

“Peter?” I ask and my voice breaks, the ghoul is instantly by my side and gently pushing me down.

 

“Alpha Stiles, we need you to remain calm,” That doesn’t bode well. “Alpha Peter was attacked and taken away by force,” Oh god no. “Law enforcement is on route, we have the plate of the van used and we have ten bike units ready to pursue.”

 

Ready to pursue? That can only mean, “They’ve lost him?” I croak out because how the hell did they lose Peter? “He has a tracker on him, his phone’s GPS is on, just track him.”

 

“We’re trying,” The ghoul says and the face inside the body grimaces, “But the signals are being blocked, we can’t track him that way.” My mind instantly starts working out the percentages of Peter staying alive and how they drop dramatically with every passing second. “We’re finding out the details now Alpha Stiles, we will do anything to bring him back to you.”

 

Scrubbing at my face I nod numbly and try to process what the hell is happening. I’ve heard all of the security plans, and they’re good plans, solid plans, how the hell did these people get to Peter?

 

I’m left alone as the ghoul also gets on his phone and I don’t bother to try and follow what he’s saying. There’s a buzzing in my ears and I stifle a yawn, adrenaline can only do so much and as it wears off I’ll feel even more exhausted. Getting to my feet I pace near the back of the house and stop now and again to gaze out over the lake.

 

There’s not much breeze out there and the lake has stilled to its normal mirror like surface. I can see the far mountains reflected in it, as well as the clouds and a few stray patches of blue sky. Leaning against the window sill I let the water draw me in and I begin to relax, the buzzing in my ears dims, and there’s someone whispering a word over and over. Focusing on the word I try and make it out, it’s not very clear but it’s really familiar, like I should know it.

 

“Alpha Stiles,” Startles me and I bang into the window with a thump. Flailing around I find the ghoul standing right behind me.

 

“Yeah?” I hold my hand over my heart, damn it, I hate when people do that to me.

 

“I have some bad news for you,” the ghoul says and I instantly expect the worst.

 

“Peter?” Automatically my hand goes and touches my Mating mark, I sense the usual tingle and if I concentrate I know which direction Peter is in, and that he’s very far away.

 

“No Alpha Stiles, I have some bad news about Mr Williams, it seems his current body was so badly damaged in the attack that he will have to take a new body,” I’m lead back over to the couch and I flop down onto it. “Though he has managed to give us some details about the attack.”

 

Finally some kind of answer as to what the hell happened, “The assault happened the moment the group exited the building, in the main square, in public, there are numerous deaths from homemade bombs.”

 

“Whoa,” I hold up a hand and start digesting the information, “They attacked in broad daylight? In public? And people died? There were bombs?” Holy mother of god what the hell happened?

 

“Yes,” The ghoul kneels down and I really should learn his name. “The first responders are unable to deal with the massive number of casualties and the death toll is beginning to mount into the hundreds.”

 

“Aw crap,” I breathe out and my mind just can’t deal with this level of shit hitting the fan. Most supernatural things are done quietly, underhandedly, and the public simply aren’t involved. So does this mean someone no linked to the supernatural attacked the building and Peter just got caught in the crossfire? But I’ve been told that Peter was taken, so that idea doesn’t work unless they saw him healing and decided to snatch him, but why hang around a bomb blast area?

 

“Indeed, we’ve also discovered that someone is hacking police systems and what appears to be a virus has been released, hampering efforts even further,” the ghoul isn’t even getting excited, he’s just calm like they all are. “Any and all law enforcement, as well as bomb squads, are converging on the area now. Luckily whoever did this was sloppy.”

 

“They were?” They’ve taken Peter, an Alpha werewolf, they’ve set off bombs, they’ve killed hundreds of people, uploaded a virus into the police system, and they were sloppy?

 

“Very much so. They forgot that people have a tendency to take videos and upload them online, our researchers are already sifting through the various footages available and have found several significant pieces of information,” Inside the body the ghoul smiles and it’s a predator’s smile. “Not only can we see Alpha Peter picked up and carried off, alive. We also have footage of three men being lead to where the bombs were against their wills, and that is very significant indeed.”

 

My bodyguard comes closer, “Oh?” He’s no longer glued to his phone.

 

“Yes,” The ghoul twists to look up at him, “Because all three of them are very prominent members of the Argent family in Miami. And they’re know militants that are very vocal that werewolves are all rabid and need to be put down. By any means necessary.”

 

Dream dad appears next to me and he has his thoughtful look on, “Interesting. Why pick three hunters like that? Why set them up to take the fall out of this attack?”

 

Huh?

 

God I’m so tired and then I jerk awake again, “Oh my god, without that footage everyone supernatural is going to assume that the Argents are behind the attack.”

 

“Exactly,” the ghoul nods and gives me a pleased smile, “A Mate was attacked, taken, and there will be retaliation. This will not go unavenged. Anyone even remotely connected to this will be destroyed. We would have reasonably assumed that the local hunters had been behind this and hunted down every last one of them, all the Argents, men, women, children, and their allies in Miami and the neighbouring areas would be dead within the week,” holy mother of god. “Yet we now know that whoever orchestrated this attack wants us to waste our time attacking the Argent scum.”

 

My bodyguard sits down on the couch too, as dad is in the way he half sits inside dad, which is weird. “They tried to start a war. Between the supernatural world and the hunters. Once we’d destroyed the hunters in Miami it would have set off a chain reaction through the Hunter organisation, they would have retaliated too and most of the US would explode into violence.”

 

Dream Chris stands behind the ghoul, his grumpy face is even more scowlly than normal, “Actually it would have spread. Quickly. It wouldn’t be contained to just one country, the tales of hunters breaking code is spreading, as is the story of the new code. Too many hunters kill just because they can, they have no honour, they protect no one.”

 

Derek flickers into view and touches Chris’ shoulder, “They found the footage, maybe war can be averted.”

 

“Maybe,” Chris doesn’t seem that convinced and while I’m worried about Peter another part of my brain is connecting dots, dots like war, death, and hunters like Kate and Gerard leading the charge to destroy anything even remotely supernatural.

 

Lydia steps up to him, “If the supernatural community goes to the hunters and shows this footage to them, will they believe the videos? Or will they assume it’s fake?” I wonder what she’s up to, she’s a lot smarter than me, I can’t always keep up.

 

“It depends,” Chris muses out loud, “If the footage is from an independent source and can be verified quickly. And it would depend on the Matriarch of Miami herself, if she is worthy of the title she might even be persuaded to help search for Peter, because if she hampers the investigation, I don’t know what the werewolves will do. Our knowledge of the customs of those we hunt is limited, I doubt they understand the extreme veneration and awe that Mates seem to be held in.”

 

Derek shakes his head frowning extra hard, “If she hampers the search for Peter and he dies because of it, she and the hunters there will be destroyed. Mates are too precious and rare to risk, no one can be allowed to harm them.”

 

Aw crap.

 

How the hell do I end up embroiled in these kinds of things? God I really wish Peter were here right now, he’d help me find him and stop a possible war from starting. Well he wouldn’t really care that much except where it could impact on me.

 

Another yawn sneaks up on me and I turn to the ghoul, “Okay, so bottom line. We need to find Peter, that’s our number one priority. Our second one is to convince the local hunters that someone wants to implicate them in this attack, and that they should stay the hell out of our way, or help where they can. And thirdly we need to stop an all-out war from happening when the hunters meddle and hamper us finding Peter and who did this.”

 

The ghoul nods but it’s the human mercenary who looks surprised at me and then he nods, “Yes Mr Stilinski.”

 

“Fine,” I sigh and get to my feet, “I’m gonna go pack, someone please get us to Miami as quickly as possible.”


	5. Chapter 5

Four hours later finds me still arguing with both my bodyguard and the ghoul. They are adamant that I’m not going anywhere near Miami. I’m adamant that I am.

 

We’re at a stalemate.

 

Or they think we are. I’ve already pocketed the keys to our Hummer and I’ve been texting Vincent our very efficient business manager. With my Dream Pack helping me and working on my escape plan I’m ready to go. The only wrinkle we have in the plan is that I’m exhausted, I’m running on very little sleep, I’ve survived lack of sleep before but I can’t keep this up much longer. I’m going to crash soon, I just hope it isn’t literally.

 

Storming off to my bedroom I put the TV on loud and wait for a few minutes. Dream Scott puts his head through the door and keeps watch for me. When the Pack decide the coast is clear I leave the house via the bedroom window and take a backpack with me. It doesn’t hold a lot, just enough.

 

In moments I’ve sabotaged their cars and I’m in the Hummer and driving off into Wolf Creek. It can’t be helped that they’ll hear me leave but I can get a head start on them.

 

There’s a small airstrip just outside of Rome, I know the way to the small town that’s in Marianne’s territory, all I have to do is arrive there safely and I can get a plane ride to a large airport and a commercial flight to Miami, or close to Miami. The act of domestic terrorism has hit the news and rocked the nation. It’s also closed a few things down, like the airports, so I’m being forced to detour and take longer to get to Miami to pick up Peter’s trail.

 

Whoever took him is jamming the trackers, but they can’t jam me. I can literally find Peter anywhere, I can go straight to him. Our Mating bond will lead me to him. Once I’ve located him I can hopefully call in the supernatural equivalent of a tactical squad to extract him.

 

Passing through Wolf Creek I follow the road that I came in on with Peter all those months ago. Dream dad sits with me and helps to keep me awake as well as giving me advice on bends and speeds as I’m not that familiar with the road and it’s starting to get dark. Occasionally Scott chips in from the back but mostly he lets dad handle this bit.

 

When we get to Rome I’m even more exhausted and I have no idea where the airport, landing strip thingy is. In the back of the Hummer Dream Jackson appears briefly, “I got this Stilinski, follow me,” he pops out of view only to reappear in front of the car and he takes off running. I stay on his tail and he leads me to the tiny airport without any issues at all.

 

“Thanks,” I tell him when I hop of out the car and grab my bag.

 

He shrugs, “Its fine,” and then he leads me to the small little check in area.

 

Vincent not only organised my flight for me he got the connecting flights sorted too. Miami is an interesting city in that it is long and thin so not all the airports are being closed down, just the international ones, domestic flights in are still okay as long as the plane is small and goes to a much smaller airstrip. That won’t last long, they’ll shut everything done as soon as they can as they investigate the bombing.

 

I’ve never flown before, I know the facts behind how the plane stays in the sky and I should be really excited, but I’m way too tired right now. I’m getting a little plane from here to Washington, then I’m hopping a big plane to Orlando, and then a small one again to Miami, a tiny airstrip to the south of the city. All told if I could fly direct it would take about four to five hours, instead it’s going to take between six and eight. Hopefully enough time to sleep though.

 

I have to queue and check in, I don’t have any luggage and they let me keep my backpack. Strolling off to the boarding gate, there are two of them and they have a small sign hanging on one saying ‘Washington’, I make myself as comfortable as possible on the horrible chairs. I think all public chairs are made by the same person and designed to mess with your back.

 

Leaning back in mine I stare at the ceiling and twiddle my thumbs, then I fiddle with my thumb rings, spinning the inner rings built into them keeps me occupied for a few seconds. It’s getting dark now so I can’t even see the plane. There are a few other people waiting but they’re all dressed in suits so they must be on business, and there’s nothing to do except worry and fret.

 

Checking my watch I start recalculating Peter’s odds of survival and they’re plummeting quickly. If he’s not found soon his captors are more likely to kill him than keep him. Though he’s a werewolf so he can survive a hell of a lot more than I could if our positions were reversed.

 

And that brings me back to what the hell I’m going to do when I get to Miami. Yes I can rent a car and simply follow the bond to Peter, but how do I rescue him? I’m a puny little human, with enough magic to not be helpful in the slightest. My one plan to call in help will take time to arrive and Peter could be dead before they get there.

 

If they get there.

 

Dream dad sits next to me, “So start arranging that help now.” He stares off into the darkening airfield, “You keep thinking that only Peter really cares about you, that only Peter would put everything aside to come for you,” which is all true. “But there is someone else. Someone with the right skills to help you find Peter, scout out the area, and who could in professionals to rescue Peter. Or he’ll have the contacts that can do that if he doesn’t come himself.”

 

Huh?

 

I blink stupidly at dad, I don’t understand what he’s getting at. The rest of the Pack are absent and that’s suspicious in itself. “Stiles,” Dad is completely serious when he looks at me, “I know we’ve been operating on certain guidelines but you’re going to have to break this one. You’re going to have to phone your real dad.”

 

No, I shake my head frantically. No, I refuse to drag him into anymore of my shit. He’s finally gotten his life sorted out, he’s remarried, he’s got a great son now and not some giant screw up. And if, no when, Peter gets out of this he will flip his shit at me talking to my dad, and only talking to my dad, because I’m going to Miami, I’m not detouring to Beacon Hills to see him.

 

“That’s not what I meant,” Dream dad says and then rubs his face in frustration, “He’s a police officer, he has connections, he understands the system, he might be able to help us. And,” He pauses, “You never know he might just come to Miami to help in person.

 

Snorting I look away and cross my arms, there’s no way dad would do that, yes he’s the only person, apart from Peter; who gives a genuine shit about me, but dropping everything to come to Miami? That’s huge. And I try to push away the ache inside of me that really, really, wants my dad here right now. I want to lean into him and let him do his adult thing and maybe help me find Peter in one piece.

 

“Stiles, it can’t hurt to have him make some phone calls for you,” Dream dad carries on and I really want to talk to my dad. “And when you find Peter, it will show him that while you contacted your dad, you also went to Miami because Peter’s your first choice. It will show Peter that he can trust you with your dad. That you’re happy with Peter.”

 

God I’m so tired, I can’t think as straight as I normally would. I try to work out as many possible endings as I can but all I can focus on right now is Peter. He needs me. Why couldn’t this have happened before we got married? I’d have happily sat at home and not gone to rescue the insane psycho werewolf. Only he’s fast becoming a big part of my life, he even did his best on Valentines, my very first Valentines with a significant anyone. He wraps himself around me every night and I like that now. He cooks amazing food for us. We go on date nights and even went bowling the last time. He lets me spend time with my friends. He needs me that much that he’s willing to make huge concessions to make me happy.

 

“So do everything you can to rescue him,” Dad is not letting this go, and he’s right, what are the odds of my real dad coming all the way across the country just because I’m trying to find Peter? And if dad can make a few calls to push the search for Peter up the list of urgent things to do that will help. Or I can bounce some ideas off of him later on.

 

Taking my phone out I dial the Sherriff’s department before I can reconsider and then hang on the line, “Beacon Hills Sheriff’s Department, Deputy Parrish speaking, how can I help?”

 

Who the hell is Deputy Parrish?

 

“Um.” I stall and then carry on with, “Hi, this is Stiles, is Sheriff Stilinski there please?” I cringe at how uncertain I sound. Damn it, why couldn’t it be someone who knows me? Only this is could be better, if dad isn’t there then no one has to know that I phoned for him.

 

“Yes he is, he’s just finishing some paperwork, please stay on the line and I’ll put you through,” is all I get before the crappy holding music that the powers that be think are soothing but actually just weird you out.

 

I don’t have to wait long as dad picks up in mere seconds, “Stiles?” He sounds concerned and worried. Oh god I shouldn’t have phoned him. What the hell was I thinking? I’ve screwed up so much in his life, he’s got to be so much happier now that I gone, and I’ve just phoned him up to drag him into another mess. I’m the worst son in the world. “Stiles? Son? Are you still there? Please talk to me, please.”

 

It’s the please that gets to me, I try for mature and collected but end up choking out, “Daddy?” I’ve missed him so much and scrub my face with my free hand, my eyes are wet for some reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Cackles evilly* :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the lovely comments, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter so much :)

“I’m here Stiles,” His voice is wobbly down the line, “I’m right here son.” We both go quiet and then he asks, “So how have you been?”

 

It’s so normal, so banal, that I blurt out, “Peter’s in Miami,” and then I want to smack myself in the face. Idiot.

 

The phone goes quiet again then dad’s asking, “What do you need? Are you there in Miami too? Stiles, are you okay? Can you tell me if you’re okay?”

 

“I’m okay,” I’m not that okay but I’m okay, “I’m not in Miami. I’m going to Miami. Peter’s in Miami,” I should be telling him more but I’ve fallen back on babbling. “Daddy? Peter’s in Miami. He’s in Miami and I have to find him.”

 

“Aw crap,” He murmurs, “Okay, Stiles, I’m on my way. How are you getting to Miami? Please tell me you aren’t driving down there, that’s a damn long way down.”

 

He’s on his way? “Um, I’m flying there, but the planes can’t land there so I’m going to Washington and then to Orlando, and then hopping over to Miami,” I verbally vomit the information at him.

 

“Right I’m checking the flights from here now and I can meet you in Orlando,” He’s so matter of fact that I don’t know why I’m suddenly shaking in the horrible chair. I lift my legs up and rest my heels on the edge of the seat. Wrapping my free arm around my knees I curl up and listen as he keeps talking, “I’ve got your cell phone number, I’ll be sending you a text in a minute, you save my number Stiles, and I’ll meet you there, okay?”

 

“’Kay,” I whisper and try really hard not to think about how the hell I’m going to track my missing husband, who’s a werewolf, whom I’m magically bound at my soul to, and keep my dad as ignorant of the supernatural soul bound side of my marriage as I can. Plus there could be a hunter verse the supernatural world war about to start in Miami.

 

“Good. And Stiles?” His voice softens.

 

“Yeah dad?” I’m kinda falling apart right now and I cling to my phone, to his voice in my ear.

 

“Thank you for calling. I wish it was under better circumstances but, still, I’m glad you called. I miss you son,” And this is everything I could ever want.

 

“Miss you too,” I sob slightly.

 

In front of me people are standing up and Dream Chris motions to me, “I’m sorry Stiles, but it’s time to board now, you have to hang up.”

 

No, no, I don’t want to. I want to talk to my dad for a bit longer. I watch the other passengers shuffle towards to the gate and whimper softly, “Daddy? I’m sorry, I have to go. My plane. It’s boarding now.”

 

“Okay Stiles, I’ll send you that text now, and you save that number. I know you have an amazing memory, so even if you have to take the number out of the phone, for any reason at all, I want you to memorise that number. I’m always going to have that number with me no matter what, and you can call me any time, any place, I will always answer that number. Okay?” He tells me all that softly but firmly.

 

“’Kay Daddy. I’m hanging up now, I have to get the plane, I have to get to Peter,” I don’t hang up, I hold onto my phone harder and glue him to my ear.

 

Chris materialised in front of me, “Stiles. Stiles you have to hang up now, you have to get on the plane. The sooner you are on the plane, the sooner you can meet up with your dad and find Peter. But you have to hang up first.” He’s talking slowly and patiently, “So hang up Stiles, hang up, and wait for his text.”

 

I do as Chris tells me and let Dream dad and Melissa walk me to the plane. My phone beeps and I save the number from the text. Then I turn the phone off. I’m only vaguely aware of getting on the plane and doing my seat belt up. The belts are really weird and I can’t help comparing them to car ones, you’d think there’d be more to them than this little sliver of material, that’s really flimsy.

 

Around me the plane roars to life and wow that is so much louder than I thought it would be.

 

Dream Isaac pops into the empty chair next to me and puts his hand on my arm. My hands are gripping the rests for all I’m worth. The whole plane judders and I close my eyes as we move a bit, we must be taxiing to the runway, I’ve done this hundreds of times online, it’s no big deal. The engines get louder and I’m pushed back into my chair as the plane shoots forward. I’ve done this too, take offs are easy once you have the hang of them and then my stomach dips.

 

Oh holy mother of god, I’m flying, I’m actually flying.

 

I look over at Isaac and he’s grinning at me. We’re flying. We’re all taking a ride on a fucking plane. The only thing that could make this experience better is if Peter was here.

 

We must level out and because it’s dark there’s nothing to look at. There’s the bare minimum in here for passengers and my mind goes back to circling the problem of finding Peter, then saving Peter. I dismiss the idea of my dad helping because once he has a moment to really think about it he’s going to realise that I’m not worth it, he has Melissa and Scott now. And he threw me out of the house, though that could be because of the gold digging tramp and her horrible kids, we might be able to make up over that.

 

I spend the rest of the trip gripping the arm rests and gazing straight ahead, I don’t bother trying to sleep, I have too much to do, mostly worrying and fretting and wracking my nerves.

 

We land without incident and I stumble off the plane with all the other passengers. Since I don’t have any baggage I follow Jackson as he walks confidently through the much bigger airport. This late at night there’s barely anyone and it’s like I’m a ghost drifting through the building.

 

Annoyingly my next flight is delayed and I have to wait in a giant area built to milk money out of travellers. I keep myself distracted by checking out the few shops that are open right now. The prices are astronomical. I’m sure I could fly to a plantation, grow the cocoa beans, and make my own hot chocolate for less than a cup costs here.

 

“You should check your phone,” Lydia’s eyeing up a table and giving it glaring daggers, “Honestly you’d think they’d at least clean them once in a while. Do you know the kind of bacteria that could be building an empire on there right now?”

 

Allison joins us and links her arm with Lydia’s, “Come on Lydia, don’t make a scene, Stiles isn’t eating, or drinking here, yet. And he needs to check his phone to see if there’s been any update on finding Peter.”

 

Yes, I should do that. I turn the phone on and ignore the annoying start up screen. A message pings in and I hurry to open it. Please let them have made a breakthrough with Peter. But it’s not from anyone searching for Peter, it’s from my dad. He’s got a flight to Orlando. He’s given me the details. He really seems to be coming.

 

Oh my god.

 

I start shaking again and I don’t know why. Oh god, what if he knows about Brad and Oren? What if he can’t stand to me near me? What if he’s coming to tell me in person how I ruined his life?

 

“Stop,” Dream dad is standing next to me, “Take a breath. Hold it. Let it out, slowly. Again. Again. Again,” I start to calm down. “Think about it logically Stiles, his son phones him, tells him his son in law is in Miami after a bomb attack, he’s going to want to help you find Peter.”

 

But he doesn’t know the truth and that Peter was kidnapped.

 

“That won’t matter to him. You called him. He’s coming,” Dad pats my shoulder, “Just think of all the red tape he can help you cut through, all the leads he can help you with, how much faster this is going to be because of him.”

 

He’s right, he’s totally right and the rest of the Pack are nodding too. Dad’s coming to help me find Peter and then he’s going to go home again. But at least he talked to me, he didn’t brush me off, he didn’t tell me he was too busy, so that’s good.

 

“Yes it is,” Dad says and nods towards the menu, “Now get yourself a hot chocolate and drink it down. You’ve not eaten for hours not since lunch. You need to keep your strength up, and try to sleep on the plane, you can’t go on much longer without crashing.”

 

I take his advice and go to get a hot chocolate while Lydia harps on about bacteria and plague, I’m fairly certain she’s exaggerating but Scott refuses to go near the tables by the end of it, and he’s imaginary, I’m not sure what he thinks he’s going to catch.


	7. Chapter 7

Getting off the plane at Orlando I blink at the brightness of the artificial lights, I did manage to fall asleep on the plane, I don’t remember any of the journey. I strapped in and then Dream Isaac was waking me up saying we’re here.

 

Due to my plane from Washington being delayed I’ve missed my original flight to Miami anyway, so I wander through the airport and let Jackson guide me to a place to wait for dad. His flight is on time so I have about an hour to kill. He’d also added he’d meet me in arrivals so that’s where I’m hanging out.

 

There are a few food vendors around and I grab some breakfast as the sun really starts shining through the windows. I also find an AC unit and huddle under it, they must have turned all their heating up down here, it’s a lot warmer than I’m used to.

 

Finishing off my bacon bagel I let Dream dad nag me into taking my meds, I’m going to need to stay as focused as possible to find Peter, mount a rescue, and then ride off into the sunset with my homicidal husband. Or something like that.

 

I’m not convinced that Peter is my future, but I’m not convinced he’s not either. It’s too much at the moment and I head for the toilets to pee and clean up a bit. The ensemble with the fluorescent yellow t-shirt and lego people duelling with lightsabers is looking a bit worn now. Washing my hands I splash water on my face and I sigh at how washed out I look in the mirror. I’m going to make an awesome impression with my dad.

 

Dream dad leans against a stall, “He’s also been on an all nighter Stiles, he’s not going to look much better. And that’s not important right now.”

 

No, Peter is. And I really don’t know how I’m going to save him if the ghouls decide not to help me.

 

Dream Scott hops up onto the counter with all the sinks, “They’ll help Stiles, they like you, and Mr Williams really likes you. And you’re totally looking at this wrong. You save people all the time. How many times have you had to charge in at the last moment and save people in Beacon Hills?” He kicks his legs and I blink stupidly at him, he sighs and adds, “You know it’s a good thing I’m part of your cheering sections, you’re too hard on yourself.

 

“Don’t forget it was you that worked out it was Kate who burned the Hale house, it was you that turned up with Jackson and the cocktails. Then later on it was you that turned up with Lydia to save Jackson. And you’re the one that freed those kids so their souls could move on in Wolf Creek. The Clan in New York owes you all their lives. All the people that Klaus would have killed or his blood user girlfriend would have tortured to death are safe. The boy who wanted Peter to make him a better killer is gone and he won’t have any more victims. You’re a hero bro, even if you can’t see it, without you everything would have fallen apart,” he leans over and gives me a deep soulful look. “Believe in yourself more Stiles, you’re amazing, and awesome.”

 

All those things did kinda happen. And I was sort of the reason some of it worked out. I could still be useful in finding Peter, I am bonded to him. And I might be able to rescue Peter with just a little bit of help, I’m really resourceful.

 

“Exactly,” Scott nods, “Remember the basketball game? The one you kept all those really experienced players from winning?” I nod, that was not a good day for me. “Everyone underestimates you Stiles, you flail about and you’re clumsy, but you’re not stupid and you’re smarter than even Lydia is,” That gets a squawk from Lydia and a snort from me, “No bro you are smarter than her. She knows everything, and she’s going to scare the math world into bowing down and worshipping her, but you have something that can make connections, patterns, and you put it together, you make the play that saves people.”

 

When my Lydia walks over to Scott I expect her to smack him one but she nods, “Scott does have a point, academically I will beat you into the ground and not break a sweat, but you do have that something. You’re the reason so many people are alive today, that’s something the real me hasn’t worked out how to do, yet, I’m sure she’ll get there.”

 

 

I think back over the events since I dragged Scott into the woods to be snacked on by Peter. It’s my fault that Scott got bitten.

 

“No,” Dream Melissa steps up. “Peter had a plan. He killed Laura for the Alpha power. The moment the body was found it was simply a matter of time before he started biting the nearest person he could get his teeth into. And Scott could have told you no. Your dad could have caught Scott and not you. Or both of you. Scott being a werewolf is on Peter and only Peter.”

 

I’m not convinced but I nod anyway. It’s food for thought later on when I have a chance to think about it. And frankly Peter admitted in the parking garage, when he offered to Bite me, that it could have been me instead of Scott.

 

Dream Derek comes to stand next to Scott, “Not everything is your fault Stiles. You can’t control the actions of other people. And we’re inside your head, we are parts of you, trust us on this Stiles, you are an amazing person, anyone would be lucky to have you in their lives,” he’s giving me epic eye contact and I wish the real Derek were more like this. His lips twitch, “So do I, he didn’t treat you very well, you deserve better. I don’t think that person is Peter but we’ll have to wait and see.”

 

Their little pep talk does it’s job and I stand up a bit straighter. I’m not so unsure anymore. And I’m not alone in my search for Peter, they’ll help me too. They’ve already proved they can work with me to plan things, they can scout things out and not be seen, and all of them have skills I don’t have that they can bring into play to help me.

 

Walking out of the toilets I have my backpack slung over my shoulder so I can check the arrivals boards and pace around. Dad should be landing in five minutes, I don’t even know if he’s on the plane. “He is,” Dream Derek stands nearby, “He’s anxious to get here.”

 

Oh god. Dad is really on the plane.

 

To stop myself freaking out I go back to pacing, occasionally I tug at my collar, god it’s hot here, Dream Jackson rolls his eyes at me, “Yeah because you’re further south Sherlock, of course it’s warmer.” Lydia elbows him and he asks, “What? He was being dumb. I know he’s tired but even for him that was stupid.”

 

He has a point but I still smirk as Lydia elbows him again and goes to stand by Allison. I’d feel sorry for Jackson, but it’s Jackson. And then the board says dad’s plane has landed. I go back to pacing and watch as dream Derek lopes off to go and find my dad for me. He’ll warn me when dad gets close.

 

My dream dad stays with me and walks with me, he keeps talking soothingly to me and keeping me calm. I probably look like a crazy person right now but this is a big deal.

 

Scott pops in, “Bro he’s got his bag from reclaim, and he’s heading this way,” and this is it, I move closer to the arrivals area and the big door thing people walk through trying to spot him.

 

Materializing next to me dream Derek nods at the door, “He’ll be walking through in a minute,” and the place isn’t that full so I have a fantastic viewing spot to notice him.

 

Bouncing from foot to foot I struggle to stay in one place and my stomach explodes in butterflies. What if he does hate me? What if he just yells at me? I don’t have that long to freak myself out. He does walk through the archway and he looks so tired and worn that I feel terrible about making him feel like he has to come all this way for me. He scrubs at his face and looks around, when he spots me his eyes widen and then the biggest smile breaks out on his face, “Stiles!” He yells my name and waves at me.

 

Waving back I can feel an answering smile break out on my face, “DAD!” Hurrying forward I sort of flail my way to him even as he strides towards me. We meet in the middle and then he’s dropping the handle of his pull along suitcase thingy and I’m dragged into a hug. He kind of engulfs me and I sort of throw myself forward as I wrap my arms around him. “Oh god, dad, you’re here, you’re really here.” Burying my face into his neck I take a deep breath and the scent of him opens the floodgates to so many memories and I know I’m sort of sobbing right now.

 

“Yeah, I’m here Stiles, I’m here,” He’s not much better and he clings to me as we do a really sappy reunion in the middle of a damn airport. Jesus we are so clichéd and I don’t care, I really don’t care. He’s here, he’s here and things just got a million times better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go, hope you enjoyed the little family reunion.


	8. Chapter 8

Holding onto my dad I alternate between hiccupping laughs and sobs.  God I’ve missed him so freaking much.  From the way he’s holding on to me too I’m hoping he’s missed me a bit as well.  I know he has Scott now but I hope there’s a tiny part of him that still loves me, and I’m reasonably confident that he does.

 

“Stiles, god, son,” He says and then he’s pulling back a tad from me, but he just cups one side of my face and stares at me, “God, Stiles,” he doesn’t seem to know what to say.

 

“Dad,” I gaze back at him and memorise as much of him as I can.  I know our little reunion can’t last forever, we will find Peter and there’s no way Peter’s going to let me have much time with my dad, and I really don’t want Peter to have much time with my dad either.  “Daddy,” I rest my head on his shoulder and stand there drinking in the familiar awesome of his hug.

 

I could stay like this for hours but he pulls back from me and I let him.  I guess it could get weird if we hug for too long.  He doesn’t step back from me and his eyes are wet like mine are.  Neither of us say anything and then he clears his throat, “I’ve missed you Stiles.”

 

“Missed you too dad,” I blurt back and then go back to staring at him.

 

Snorting he shakes his head and grins at me, “It is so good to see you Stiles, and your hair grew.”

 

“Yeah,” I touch said hair and try not to mess the gel up too much, “I sort of forgot to buzz it and it just gets gelled now,” I don’t mention that my husband is the one that does my hair for me, I don’t want dad to think that Peter’s crazy, dad might try something and dad is not going to get to walk away from that one.

 

Aw crap.

 

Now I remember why I’ve been making sure dad is miles away from Peter, because if I fuck up, Peter’s going to kill my dad. Shit.  Oh holy mother of god.  I’ve just dragged my dad into tracking down a werewolf, getting stuck between hunters and things that go bump in the night, and then potentially dying at the hands of my Mate.

 

“Stiles?  What is it?” Dad’s all concerned and asks, “Are you worried about Peter?” Oh yeah I am totally worried about Peter, in so many ways.  “We’re going to find him Stiles, everything’s going to be okay.”

 

I nod and pretend to go along with him, but it’s totally not going to be okay.

 

Chris coughs nearby and I glance over to see two of him standing there.  One is see through and is glaring at the other non-transparent version of Chris.  When the hell did I make another one of him? The see through one says, “You didn’t.  It seems your dad brought some back up of his own.”

 

Back up?

 

Looking around I see two Melissas and two Dereks.  I stare at them, my head whipping back and forth between them.  For a few seconds I really don’t get it and then it sinks in.  Aw crap.  Peter might, just might, have accepted my dad, especially if dad helps to save him, he might even accept Melissa, but there is no way in hell he’s going to accept Chris freaking Argent or Derek.

 

Oh god, I’m so dead. They’re so dead. We’re all so dead.

 

“Stiles, it’s okay, they’re here to help,” Dad touches my shoulder and I startle slightly before letting him calm me down.

 

The real Chris Argent nods at me so I nod back, “Mr Argent.”

 

“Stiles.  Your dad has most of the official police reports, I’ve spoken to the Hunters in Miami, and Derek has spoken to a few werewolves he knows.  We’ve pooled our knowledge and we should be able to track Peter fairly quickly,” His voice is identical to my Chris’ which makes sense and then I process what he just said.

 

“Um,” He’s openly talking about werewolves in front of me dad, I flick my eyes back to him but he’s unconcerned, like this isn’t a big reveal for him.  I have no idea how to deal with this information and stand there like an idiot.

 

Ignoring my reaction the real Chris carries on, “I’ve secured us transport to Miami and we don’t have to worry about the no fly restrictions that are being imposed on most airfields,” He frowns and points to an exit, “The driver should be here to pick us up.”  He starts walking away from us and towards the exit, then he stops and turns around, “Oh and Stiles?  It’s good to see you again,” and he goes back to walking.

 

My jaw has dropped open in shock.  I’m sure the guy hates me, I mean I’m an uncoordinated mess and I did throw the news of what his sister had done in his face.

 

The real Melissa steps up to me and hugs me as she says, “Hey kiddo, it’s been far too long. I’ve missed you”

 

Tensing in her arms I submit to the hug, but I don’t like it.  It doesn’t feel right and I really don’t like being touched by people.  I give a jerky couple of nods and then awkwardly pat her shoulder so I can act as normally as possible.  “Yeah me too.”

 

I don’t relax until she lets me go. I really hate being touched by people. I move a step so I’m on dad’s other side and lean into him.  I really have no idea what to do or say next. I didn’t have a clue how to handle my dad my dad being here, let alone my new step mom, my ex who used me for sex, and Chris freaking Argent.  Lydia flickers into view by the real Melissa, “You should mention the wedding, tell them congratulations, and don’t freak out.”

 

Doing as I’m told I tell them, “Congrats to you both, glad to see you made an honest man out of my dad,” I elbow him gently and he flushes.  “And I really wish you lots and lots of happiness, you both deserve it,” and I mean it, I do.

 

“Thanks,” Dad puts his arm around my shoulders, “It means a lot to me that you’re okay with me getting married again.”

 

“Dad,” I wrap my arms around him again, “I just want you to be happy.  To be with someone that loves you for you, and who knows better than to let you eat red meat or deep fried things.” He sighs and shakes his head.  “Seriously though dad?  I don’t think you could have found anyone else in this world better than,” I pause a bit unsure of what to call her now.  I can’t call her Mrs McCall, and calling her Mrs Stilinski sounds weird, I settle on, “Mellissa.”

 

They exchange a look and they’ve done that for years, only there’s this something more now, it makes me smile and gives me hope that they’ll make each other happy for many years to come.

 

If I don’t know how to deal with my dad, Melissa, or Mr Argent.  Then Derek is a whole new level of undealiness.  I give him a brief nod over dad’s shoulder and try not to notice how tired he looks.  His stubble has gone from attractive and passed through rugged to mess.  His clothes are scruffy and scream tramp rather than serial killer.  And he’s not really brooding, he’s staring at me, like a creepy crazy person.  I get a nod back from him and then I do my best to ignore him.

 

I also try to ignore the mental equivalent of a punch to the gut that seeing him is invoking.  It’s one thing to know that he used me, or in Peter’s opinion may have had some feelings but is so Derek-y he can’t deal with them, but it’s another thing to face him and know that I was, and never will be, enough for him, ever.

 

This is not going to be easy to deal with, but I can deal with his uncle, so I can deal with him, and people keep going on about how facing your past is good for you, and I really hope that when it’s standing there quietly they think blanking it is a good and healthy way to deal with it.

 

My dream Pack are hanging out around us and they keep giving me encouraging thumbs up, even Jackson, which is beyond weird, as is the grimace on his face as he tries for a smile.  Typical Jackson.

 

The yawn catches me by surprise and  my jaw cracks loudly.  Dad gives me a concerned look, “Stiles?  When did you last sleep?”

 

“Um, a bit of the plane, but I’ve not really slept since Peter left for Miami.  I don’t sleep well if he’s not there,” I admit and that’s major understatement, he is so the best insomnia cure ever.

 

“Okay,” Dad lets me go and grabs his pull along suitcase.  “Let’s get going, you can sleep in the car as we drive to Miami.  We all slept on the plane so we’re good.”

 

“’Kay,” I agree and grab my backpack.  “Sleep sounds so good right now.”


	9. Chapter 9

Mr Argent’s idea of transport is a big people carrier with driver.  The idea seems to be that we drive to the north of Miami, where we have a work area and accommodation waiting for us.  Then we regroup and go back over the intel they’ve all managed to gather and then we plan how to carry on tracking and rescuing Peter.

 

Surreptitiously touching my Mating Mark I run a finger around the circle and concentrate on Peter and where he is now. He’s so much closer now I’m down in Florida.  Nearby Lydia, Allison, and Jackson are noting down coordinates and direction.  If we can do that again in Miami we might be able to triangulate Peter’s position and home in on him faster.

 

To my total shock Mr Argent and Derek opt to sit next to each other.  There’s no glaring going on and Mr Argent seems completely calm about sitting next to a werewolf, while Derek is calm about sitting next to a hunter, one that’s hurt him in the past.  It leaves me, dad, and Melissa in the back together. I make sure that dad sits between us and I go back to playing with my Mating Mark.

 

I know Peter’s alive and I really hope he can feel touching the Mark, it might help him hold on long enough for us to get to him.

 

The big carrier starts up and the driver eases us out of the parking bay and into the lane marked exit.  I tip my head back onto the seat and close my eyes. I’m still so not ready to handle anything right now and the steady hum of the car reminds me of my road trip with Peter, it lets me slip into a light doze.  I’m not the only one either, the rest of them take a break to catch up on some sleep too.

 

They weren’t kidding about stopping at the north end of Miami, we barely enter the outskirts of the city when we turn and head left.  There’s a really long drive lined with palm trees and I lift my head up as we pull to a stop outside a big country house thing.  The sign proclaims it to be some kind of retreat area for visitors with daily tours and meeting rooms for hire.  There’s a flyer on it advertising paintball sessions and trust building exercises.  The place reminds me of the Willows in Rome.  Only way bigger and it blows the little hotel out of the freaking water.

 

Instead of grey stone it’s pale cream, it’s three stories high, with archways everywhere, on the veranda, in the windows, the doorways.  It’s like a really big stately home and my eyes widen in surprise.  It’s smack in the middle of lush greenery and butterflies are flitting about everywhere.  The heat from the sun is like a slap to my body and I shield my eyes from the brightness as I gaze around in wonder. 

 

Peter would love this place.

 

I go back to touching my Mating Mark and fidget in place as palm trees tower above me and I find myself in the middle of an unexpected oasis.  I never thought there’d be somewhere like this in a big city like Miami.  It’s a breath of fresh air and reminds me of home, somewhere untouched and unspoilt.

 

Mr Argent starts walking towards the big house and we all wander along behind him.  I spend the time gazing about in wonder and tripping over thin air.  Dad grabs my t-shirt and hauls me upright a few times, I make it unscathed to the main steps and proceed to flounder up them.

 

A woman appears in the doorway and I find dream Scott growling in my ear, “She smells like wolfsbane.”  She’s short, petite, and is clearly Hispanic.  Her long dark hair is up in a no nonsense pony tail and her eyes could give Scott a run for dark and dreamy.  “You think my eyes are dreamy?” Scott asks and I roll mine because now is not the time.

 

“Chris,” She beams at Mr Argent and I can see she’s wearing some kind of uniform with the same name on it as the sign.  “You made excellent time.  We’ve got the main room set up for you.  We’ve booked rooms at the local hotel and the other hunters are turning up in an hour.”

 

Other hunters?  I glance around but no one looks upset about this news.  Why aren’t they freaking out that hunters are getting involved?  Mr Argent gives her one of his nods, “Thank you Caitlin, I appreciate this.”

 

She waves it off, “No Chris, thank you, our new code ‘we protect those who can’t protect themselves’ is partly due to your efforts.  And we can finally stand by it.”

 

What?  I thought their code was ‘We hunt those that hunt us’, or more like, ‘we hunt’.

 

Caitlin glances at us and then walks up to Derek, she holds her hand out to him, “Mr Hale, welcome to the Bow Estate, we will do everything we can to find your uncle.”

 

He stares at her hand, and because this is Derek, I wait for the angst and general Derek-y refusal of her hand.  Instead he takes it carefully and they shake, once.  “Thank you.  Chris has spoken of you of a lot.”

 

Oh my god.  Derek just acted like a human being.  Not like someone raised by wolves.  Wow, I never thought he’d be able to do that.  I keep my mouth shut and don’t make any smartass comments, see I’m totally learning.

 

She goes on to greet Melissa and my dad, more polite handshakes are exchanged and then she gets to me.  She studies me for a few moments and offers me her hand, “Hello Stiles, I’m Caitlin.  I’m a budding Matriarch following the new Code.  We will do everything we can to bring your husband and Mate back to you.”

 

I shake her hand and my sight shifts so I can see her aura, it’s butter yellow as she’s human, but it’s not twisted up, it glows brightly, cleanly.  She might actually be a decent human being.  “Thank you,” I tell her and I really hope she means what she’s just said.

 

Scott’s still standing next to me, “Her heartbeat was steady the whole time,” and that’s so useful.  My own walking lie detector and one no one else can see.

 

We’re ushered inside and over to the old servants’ quarters.  Just like the Willows there’s a secret entrance.  Okay it’s not that secret but it feels like a secret entrance.  We go up the spiral staircase all the way to the top and step out in what is probably the loft.  Only I’m sure all the high tech equipment, boards, computers, and what looks like a freaking satellite feed weren’t in the original building specs.  There are seven guys in the room all working away at different stations and I notice that they’re either Hispanic, black or of Asian decent.

 

Caitlin doesn’t mess around she goes straight to one of the big screens and motions us closer, “We’ve continued to monitor all the chatter and videos for the incident, and the surrounding areas after the incident.  We already knew the van holding Mr Hale-Stilinski went in a northerly direction, but we finally have footage to confirm that.”

 

On the monitor is a map that I’m guessing is of Miami.  There’s a spot where I know Peter’s meeting was held, it’s coloured in red. There’s also a big blue splodge over the map and I don’t know what that is, though Caitlin is pointing to it saying, “The virus released into the system was very specific, it targeted communications and traffic cams.  Luckily the internal systems here in Miami were upgraded so while the virus did serious damage it only did so going north,” and you can see a path heading north through the blue bit.

 

“To be on the safe side we’ve tracked every single traffic cam we can to make sure the van didn’t slip out another way, but there’s no sign of it,” she taps on the keyboard and a very blurry picture of a white van comes up, “We found this picture though, and it matches the van exactly, we’re now reasonably sure the van went north but we lose sight of it again almost immediately.”

 

Leaning forward Mr Argent says, “Good job Caitlin, very thorough.” She preens under his praise, “And now that Stiles is here we can track him through what Derek said was a Mating Bond.”  He doesn’t sound convinced and I’m stunned that a hunter would know about the bond.

 

What the hell is going on?  Derek and Chris are acting all friendly towards each other.  Dad just welcomed me like he never threw me out of the house and he’s happy to see me.  Only Melissa is the same as she always is.  And now I’m surrounded by Hunters that are trying to help.  I feel like I’m trapped in the Twilight zone, but a nice version of it.

 

Dad pats my shoulder, “Stiles, are you able to track Peter?  Are you close enough to him to know where he is?”  And that clinches it, dad knows all about the supernatural.  Crap.  I wanted to keep him safe, to keep him away from all this shit.

 

Dream dad pops in next to my real dad, “Stiles, freak out later, for now concentrate on Peter.  Show them what direction he’s in and we can start tracking him again.”

 

Nodding at his advice I hold up my right hand concentrate on Peter, then I point in the direction, “He’s that way.”

 

Everyone, but Derek, looks at each other before one of the tech guys comes over to me and works out the coordinates.  “Um, I did the same at the airport.” I rattle off the information my dream Pack collected.  “That should give you a point of intersection, right?”

 

Studying me Mr Argent agrees, “Right.  They’ll input the numbers and give us Peter’s location.”

 

And that’s exactly what the tech guy does.  On screen the map zooms out and two lines appear on it.  They do intersect, somewhere in the middle of nowhere between Orlando and Florida, and over towards the coast, shit we totally drove past, or near, Peter.

 

Zooming back into the map I recognise the area, it’s about five miles from the strip of land we’ve been trying to get rid of.  And then Caitlin swears, “Fuck it, it really is them.  Jesus this is going to be a mess to get him out there.”


	10. Chapter 10

Shunted off to one side with my dad, Melissa, and Derek, I lean into dad and watch as all the hunters, including Chris, go into a huddle.  They haven’t explained what the problem is yet but the other hunters are all acting spooked, so it can’t be good.

 

Derek turns his head to us and murmurs, “They’re saying it might be impossible to get Peter out.  They’re going to give it a try anyway, but they don’t hold out much hope for it.  The hunters that are in that area are stand offish and don’t let anyone into their territory.  They’re incredibly militant and really hate all things supernatural.”

 

Dad has his arm around me and squeezes slightly and asks, “You said the local werewolves would help us right?”

 

“Yes,” Derek’s still listening in to the conversation happening on the far side of the room.  “Peter and Stiles are Mates.  It’s an honour to help them.”

 

“Hmm,” Dad cocks his head to one side, “So we have people with extremely good hearing, senses of smell, and are supernaturally strong and fast on our side.  As well as a team of well-trained soldiers.  If they can work together we‘ll have edges the other side won’t.  And if we can find evidence to link these more militant hunters to the bomb we can leak it to the local law enforcement and get them taken out that way.”

 

I’m still slightly freaking me out that dad knows anything about the supernatural, and he’s so at ease with it that he’s asked Derek to listen in to a conversation, just like I used to get Scott to do for me.  And Derek, who’s a pig headed Alpha at the best of times, is not only doing as he’s told, he’s letting dad take control and make plans.

 

One of the machines bleeps a few times and the huddle breaks up.  Chris walks over to us looking grim, well he usually looks grim, but this is grimmer.  “I’m sorry,” and oh my god he just freaking apologised, “I won’t lie to you, this isn’t going to be easy and I’m not sure we can guarantee that Peter will even make it out of this alive. The hunters holding him won’t give him up without a fight, and the longer it takes us to get to him, the longer they have to work on him,” he hesitates and then looks me right in the eyes, “Stiles, they’re a lot like Gerard.”

 

Aw crap.

 

I kind of guessed from the bits Derek told us of the whispered conversation going on, but it’s different when Chris confirms it.  He carries on, “We’re not giving up, and the last three hunters have just turned up.  We’ll do everything we can.”

 

I give him a few jerky nods and lean into my dad more. I don’t have time to say anything because there really are three more people walking into the super-secret hunter hideout.  There are two women and a guy.  One of the women is black and her facial features match the guy walking next to her so I’m guessing their related, while the last woman is Asian, they ignore us and go straight to Caitlin.  On the big screen the coordinates where Peter’s being held come up again and none of the new arrivals are happy with the location.

 

Chris sighs heavily and points towards the door the new arrivals came in, “We should get something to eat.  The werewolves will be here in a few hours and then we’re going straight out to get Peter.  We can’t leave it any longer,” and then he makes us leave and go to the nice little café area.

 

We sit outside in a shady area and I eat a sandwich that’s really good, sip water, munch fruit and try not to think too hard.  I’m less tired than I was but I feel kind of numb right now.  Dad’s sitting next to me, then Melissa, then Derek, and we come full circle to Chris.

 

Around us birds sing, butterflies flutter about, other people murmur and look happy. And then Chris leans towards Derek and asks, “So do you like how it smells here?”

 

But what really freaks me out is that little smile of Derek’s, just a flash of teeth and then he nods, “Yes.  It smells amazing, there’s so much life here, and when the wind blows the right way I can scent the ocean too.”

 

“Good,” Chris smiles back at him.

 

What the hell?

 

I’m now partly convinced I’ve wandered into some kind of parallel universe.  Dad has his arm slung over the back of my chair while he also holds Melissa’s hand.  He’s not acting like I’m the kid he kicked out of his house.  The last time we had a proper conversation he called me a liar and said how disappointed he was with me, how I’d let him down, again.  The next day I was shown the door by the harpy and I was homeless.

 

Touching the Mating Mark on my wrist I trace the circle with a finger and feel my stomach knot up with tension.  Why is dad being so nice all of a sudden?  Or is like Mrs McClusky and her son?  They fought all the time because he was a total shit to her, it wasn’t until he moved away that they got on again.  Does that mean I’m like that asshole and dad needed time and space away from me?

 

Melissa’s laughing at something Chris just said and he huffs out a laugh too.  He still looks like I remember him, but I’ve never seen or heard him genuinely laugh before.  Derek mutters something and it makes Chris give one of those big startled laughs, his whole body shakes with it, “Very funny Derek. You got me again.”

 

Another mini smile flickers across Derek’s face and those ridiculous eyes of his crinkle in amusement.  This isn’t the Derek I remember from Beacon Hills, this is the Derek he could have been, with shit loads of therapy and all the hugs in the world.

 

Sitting here with these four people, all I can do is compare how it used to be when I was in their lives and how it is now.  They’re clearly better off without me.  My fingers dig into my Mating Mark and I breathe a bit shallowly as I have to face facts, I made the right decision when I left Beacon Hills.

 

Dad and Melissa are happy, they’re together now, they have Scott as a son, and without me to keep getting in the way I bet things are a million times better.  Chris is much less of an asshole, he’s getting on with Derek of all people, and he’s following a new code, one that doesn’t require him to kill everything.

 

And Derek. 

 

God, Derek’s the one that’s changed the most.  Maybe Peter was right and he did care about me, but he just wasn’t ready and couldn’t handle any feelings, I mean he was still reeling from his sister’s murder, then becoming an Alpha, a position he was never trained for.  I stare openly at him and from the way my stomach swoops and my heart clenches I’m guessing I still having feelings for him.  Feelings I’m going to have to learn to get over because he’s clearly better off without me too.  That female Alpha must have been really good for him, I hope she gives him all the love he deserves, and maybe one day they’ll have kids, I can just see little mini Derek’s running around the forest and being happy.

 

It hurts to sit here and see them be so fucking happy without me.  But then that’s why I left. I left so they could be happy.  I went with Peter to protect them and to keep him away from them, only now he’s really stable and I have a new life in Wolf Creek with him.

 

Clinging to my Mating Mark I blink rapidly because my eyes sting.  On the table in front of me, my water glass is half empty and I contemplate downing it in one when it swirls and goes blood red.  Startled I lift my head and find the same little girl from the boys’ toilets is standing on the other side of the table.  She’s harder to see because it’s so bright out here, and she’s so tiny that she peeks over the top of the table.

 

The tips of the little ghost girl’s finger come up to rest of the edge of the table and she blinks a few times at me, our eyes hold and she gives this shy smile before she says, “Water,” and vanishes.

 

That’s the second time I’ve seen her now and I frown wondering what it could mean.  My wrist flares for a second like Peter’s touching his Mating Mark and then it’s tapped twice.

 

Oh my god.

 

“Holy mother of god,” I squeak out and concentrate on where he is, he seems to be in the same direction but I’m sure he’s closer and moving towards me.  “Peter,” I’m stunned, I’m totally freaking stunned, how the hell is he doing what he’s doing?

 

“Stiles?” Dad’s sitting upright and acting concerned.

 

“Dad,” I stammer a bit, “Dad, Peter’s touching his Mating Mark, and he feels closer, like he’s coming to me dad.”  This has to be a good thing, please dear god let this be a good thing.  I’m not sure I can handle any more bad things right now.


	11. Chapter 11

Not even ten minutes later I’m hanging onto my seatbelt for dear life as Mr Argent demonstrates just how fast he can drive if he wants to. All the hunters, and my family, are in various vehicles and racing towards Peter. I keep checking our bond and one of the hunters in our SUV uses his tablet to keep tracking Peter’s progress as I point it out to him.

 

Derek was talking on the phone as we left and he slid into another SUV, he’s letting the local Packs know what’s happening and they’re readying a specialised medical unit for Peter. We have no idea what state he’s going to be in, we’re planning for the worst and working from there. Apparently the hunters have an old ambulance they ‘change’ the plates on regularly, it’s perfect for getting the wounded out of situations or hauling off dead bodies.

 

I deliberately stop thinking about dead bodies and Peter at the same time.

 

Cruising just above the speed limit Mr Argent settles us into a mile crunching trip. The scenery wizzes past and I fret at how long we’re taking, even though I know we’re going as fast as we can. Glaring out the window I keep touching my Mark and I just hope Peter can keep coming to me.

 

Driving along the Interstate is seriously boring. I fidget in place and wish Peter was already here. When we road tripped together it was far more entertaining and interesting.  All I can see from the few breaks in the road are housing estates and golf clubs. There are a few parks though, they’ve kept some of the greenery and a lot of rivers to be crossed.

 

I get the occasional tap against my Mating Mark from Peter and thirty minutes later we’re nearly there. I don’t know where there is but Peter’s so freaking close now. Mr Argent has eased off the gas and the tech guy’s doing his best to guess at Peter’s location. We come off the road we were following north and hang a left, sort of. Off the main interstate we hit traffic, very light sporadic traffic, and the houses are spaced quite far apart, so Peter could have found a hiding space here, then we break out of suburbia into part of a park and I point frantically to the left, “That way, he’s that way.”

 

In the movies they always show Florida as wet, swampy, and knee deep in alligators, right now it’s dry, and full of palm trees. This park is no exception and we can’t turn into the park properly. Our local tech guys finds a parking area in the park itself and that will have to do.

 

Scrambling out of the SUV I study the park. There are paths cut into it and there’s some scrub like undergrowth I have no wish to force my way through. My dream Pack start popping into view and taking Peter’s general direction from me the werewolves lope off, the scrub is no problem to them, they pass right through it.

 

The other hunters pull up and jump out too. I have to point out where Peter is and they nod grimly, they start making plans to close off the park to the public to give me a chance to get in and grab Peter. I notice that there a few stun weapons being handed out too. My Chris narrows his eyes at that and even dream Dad glares at them.

 

“Okay Stiles, lead the way,” Mr Argent nods and towards me, and Derek strides up to him to jerk his head at me. “No Derek, he’s not sitting this one out. We need him in the field, he can lead us straight to Peter, and if those legends you told us are right, Stiles is the only one Peter will never attack on sight. We have no idea what state Peter’s in, but he was heading straight for Stiles, let’s use that to catch him quickly, quietly, and then get him somewhere safe.” Catch? “There’s no way he’s not been missed, they’ll be tracking him, we have to move quickly.”

 

“But,” Derek looks like he’s going to argue with Mr Argent, and then he clenches his jaw and nods. He used to do that to me all the time, argue that I couldn’t go out and help, I had to stay behind all the time because I’d get in the way.

 

Pushing down the unpleasant reminders I turn to see Dream Scott motioning to me. They’ve found Peter. Thank god. Walking forwards I find myself flanked by Mr Argent and Derek. I twist to give Mr Argent a surprised look when I notice dad is bringing up the rear, with Melissa, who’s carrying a medical kit.

 

I don’t have to go far into the park as Peter’s heading for me too. In fact Derek freezes in place and holds his hand up in closed fist. Oh my god, when did he learn to do that? Shaking my head I concentrate on Peter and he’s just up ahead and well, up. He does tend to climb trees so I tilt my head and scan the tree tops.

 

Scott does the same and points one out, “There, he’s up there.” I squint in the sun and I have no idea how he’s managing to hide at the top but he is. A dark skinned giant wolf man monster should stick out like a sore thumb.

 

Dream Lydia appears nearby, “Stiles, I don’t think having people near you when you go to retrieve Peter is a good idea. He’s possessive and jealous on a good day. He’s not going to react well to any perceived threat.”

 

And that is good thinking from Lydia, as normal. How to get close to Peter, coax him out of a tree, stop him from killing everyone, and still get him to safety.

 

Isaac is leaning against a tree and inspecting his claws, “Well is there any way you can use the bond? Or can you mentally stabilise him with your energy? He drains you to keep himself from going into a bloodlust, can that help you now?”

 

I don’t know. I don’t know how it normally works any way, I’m totally new at this magic stuff.

 

Dream Derek wanders over, “He shouldn’t need to use his energy. Peter’s a werewolf, it’s ingrained into him to protect Stiles, to never hurt Stiles, to be with Stiles no matter what.”

 

My Chris frowns, “Are you willing to stake Stiles’ life on that Derek? Peter’s not exactly stable and he has hurt Stiles in the past.”

 

“Yes,” My Derek says, “I am more than willing to stake Stiles’ life on it. Trust me, Peter cannot harm Stiles. Stiles is everything to him, he’ll die first.” And that was said with extreme confidence and conviction.

 

“Okay,” I nod and decide to just walk up there slowly. “I’ll go get Peter then. You wait here.”

 

A big hand lands on my shoulder and I jump in shock, it’s the real Chris Argent, “You should take back up.”

 

All of my imaginary pack snort at that and I shake my head, “Nope, I’m going alone, Peter’s my Mate, he won’t hurt me, he can’t hurt me.” Shrugging off his hand I jog part way towards Peter and glance behind to make sure they’re staying put, luckily there are, they don’t look happy about it though.

 

Walking the rest of the way I stop a few feet from Peter’s tree and peer up at him using my hand to shade my eyes. Red eyes glint at me and I wave to him, “Hey Peter. I’m here to rescue you. Only could you please come down because I can’t save you if you’re stuck up a tree.”

 

Those red eyes blink a few times and then he jumps down to land a few feet in front of me. He’s down on all fours as he sniffs the air and growls softly. I hold my right hand out to him and try hard not to think of any dog jokes, it turns out to be not that hard as he limps towards me. He’s favouring his right arm and trying not to put any weight on it.

 

Dropping to my knees I bare my neck to him but he doesn’t try and bury his face in my neck, he sort of pitches forward and there’s the sound of snapping bones as I get an armful of a very naked Peter. He’s covered in blood, mud, and god knows what else. “Peter?” I touch his shoulder as gently as I can but he doesn’t move.

 

Aw crap.

 

I’m only human so scooping him up is an effort. I manage it and hold him bridal style in my arms. Melissa has spent years trying to drill in basic first aid into my head, I know better than to try and move him, he could have a spinal injury, or worse. Except this is Peter, he’s an Alpha werewolf, he can heal anything short of being chopped in half, and I have to get him out of here, I have to get him somewhere safe.

 

Staggering down the path towards the cars I can see Melissa and dad are running towards us. They don’t try and take Peter out of my arms, instead they start doing simple medical checks as I walk slowly under Peter’s weight.


	12. Chapter 12

Sipping at my soda I stare at the closed door in the hidden werewolf medical centre. Peter’s on the other side of it. I’ve not seen him once since I put him gently on the gurney in the park. They wouldn’t let me in the ambulance and now they won’t let me see him. Okay I know they’re doing medical stuff right now so I’d be in the way but I just need to see him.

 

Dad’s sitting next to me and sipping his coffee, he’s wrinkled his nose at it each time he’s sipped. He’s not normally picky about his coffee so it must be bad.

 

Dream Melissa is flitting in and out keeping me updated as much as she can. I know Peter’s unconscious at the moment and they’ve cleaned him up. They’re happy with his physical recovery, all his cuts and bruises are healing at the correct rate for an Alpha. His right arm was broken but is almost healed. His blood was more wolfsbane than blood and is nearly back to normal, which is freaking them all out because it doesn’t normally happen like that, he should be dying of wolfsbane poisoning.

 

The big thing that’s worrying them is Peter’s still unconscious, Melissa’s not using the word coma, but I can read between the lines and take another sip of soda.

 

I have no idea what to think or feel right now. I’m numb again. I don’t know how to deal with my dad, Melissa, Derek, or Chris. And now Peter’s unresponsive. Speaking of Derek and Chris. They’ve gone to check our back trail and make sure we’ve not been followed.

 

Dream Derek pops in next to me, “You have a visitor, I think they’re angry at you but it’s hard to read them.”

 

Heels click on the floor and I glance up to see a woman walk into the waiting room. I can tell she’s a ghoul and she’s the first she ghoul I’ve seen so far. Of course my vision flickers and I can see the being inside of the dead body. I blink in surprise and sit up suddenly. I know that ghoul, it’s Mr Williams, well I guess it’s Ms Williams now. I check out her new body and this one has dusky coloured skin, dark hair and almost black eyes. Her figure is that hourglass thing men harp on at women about. She’s in a very expensive skirt suit in grey, she wore that colour a lot as Mr Williams too. Her heels aren’t that tall but she walks confidently and commandingly in them.

 

Dad’s noticed her too and he sits up as she reaches us, she gives him a soft smile that’s in keeping with this body but I can see she’s furious right now, she’s almost shaking inside the body. “Hello Sheriff Stilinski, I’m Alpha Stiles and Alpha Peter’s lawyer, and I’m sorry to interrupt, but I really need to speak to Alpha Stiles about a few things.”

 

“Okay,” Dad nods and glances at me, “If you need me I’ll be right here, and if I hear any news I’ll come get you.”

 

“Thanks dad,” I get up and pat his shoulder, “I doubt we’ll be long, Ms Williams tends to get straight to the point.” I follow her down to another door and she holds it open for me. Inside her true face is screwed up and I think she’s barely holding her temper in check. She’s really mad. I really hope it’s at the hunters that took Peter.

 

The room is a tiny office and a bit crammed so I have to stand close to her, “Alpha Stiles, let me start by saying I’m happy that you and Alpha Peter are safe and sound. Then let me ask you what the hell you were thinking?”

 

“What?” I don’t understand.

 

Very slowly, and patiently she says, “Alpha Stiles, it was a simple question. Why the hell did you come here and destroy our plans? We finally have the hunters right where we want them and you’ve thrown all that out of the window.”

 

“I had to find Peter,” I point out the obvious answer. “I had to find him and rescue him. It’s not like you were doing that much, and I can track him anywhere, you should have brought me down earlier.”

 

Rather than placating her it makes her angrier, “Alpha Stiles, I may have made a mistake with you. I thought you were different from all the others. I thought you had that something that set you apart from the sheep we call humanity. We knew where Alpha Peter was, we had a plan we were going to implement this evening, he would have been safe and travelling north to you, where we could then send you into a version of Witness Protection, while we dealt with the budding hunter problem brewing here in Miami.”

 

“You knew where he was?” I feel a bit stupid but I want to know, “So why didn’t you tell me? If I knew you were getting him out I would have stayed put or come down to help you.”

 

“Of course we knew where he was, we have seers, and other magic users on our side. And we didn’t tell you because we didn’t want anyone to intercept our messages. This is too important just to speak to a teenaged boy, all you had to do was stay put. Alpha Peter would have been home in days, instead you’ve messed everything up,” Her hands have clenched into fists and she slams one of them down onto the desk in the room, it cracks cleanly in half and shit that is one hell of hit.

 

“Um, you know Peter’s still been rescued right, and we can totally go north, I,” I try to tell her and hold my hands up in vain attempt to protect myself if she takes a swing at me.

 

“You idiot,” She hisses it at me as she interrupts me and inside her, her real face is swearing, “That was one of our main goals, but only one of them. We were going to do a surgical strike and wipe that particular Hunter family off the face of the earth. And then we were going to kill all the hunter Matriarchs that are currently converging on Miami with their small army of killers.”

 

“Huh?” I have no idea what she’s talking about.

 

Visibly restraining herself she glares at me, “Think Alpha Stiles. They planted a bomb designed to kill a werewolf. The only reason Alpha Peter is alive right now is because I stepped in front of him and took the worst of the blast for him. They must have improvised at that point and snatched him, which meant that the airborne wolfsbane missed him entirely. The rest of the plaza and the first responders were not so fortunate, to the point that there are no survivors, they’re all dead, either due to the initial injuries, or because of the Aconite poisoning.”

 

Holy mother of god. I’m so used to werewolves being poisoned by wolfsbane I forgot it’s poisonous to humans too.

 

“Ah, now you are thinking,” She sasses me and I’m not used this side of her. “The Matriarch’s forces here in Miami did what they normally do, they tried to suppress some of the news so the supernatural side could be hidden, only we leaked it to the press. She’s now being forced to face down most of the Matriarchs here in the US with several more coming from around the world. And they all get to bring armed guards with them.”

 

“That’s a lot of hunters,” I mutter and they’ll all be trained killers, you don’t get to become Matriarch if you’re weak and her guards will be the best of the best.

 

“Yes that is a lot of hunters, and both you and Peter are still in their vicinity. Do you now understand why I’m so incredibly unimpressed with you right now?” Her hands keep fisting and I really don’t want to piss her off even more.

 

“Yeah, I can see why, but Ms Williams?” I take a step up to her and look her straight in the eyes. “When it comes to Peter don’t you ever leave me out like that again,” Oh god what the hell am I doing? She can snap me in half with one hand, I’m so dead.

 

She stares back unblinkingly and the face inside of her suddenly smiles, “I’m sorry Alpha Stiles, I forgot I was dealing with a Mate. Since I’ve met you you’ve never acted like one before now, I will not make that mistake again.”

 

“Thank you,” I’m not sure what I’m thanking her for, “And I’m sorry I messed up your plans,” the homicidal ones that would have sparked a war. Why do they all think killing is going to get them somewhere? I have got to get me, Peter, dad and the rest away from this impending disaster.

 

Bowing to me, she motions to the door, “I did take the liberty of informing your school that you would not be attending for a while. I’ve used the excuse of Alpha Peter being in Miami a few streets away when the bomb went off and being caught in the panicked crowds. I may have said he bravely protected a few people too, just to add a heroic spin to his actions.”

 

“Awesome,” I beam at her and walk out of the door.

 

Her hand catches the back of my t-shirt, “Though be warned Alpha Stiles, while I will obey the Lore and protect you to the point of my own death, be careful that you do not make me an enemy.”

 

Swallowing I nod, “Believe me Ms Williams I never want you to be my enemy, or Peter’s. I am happy being in the non-enemy box.” I have no wish to piss of a ghoul with power, money and way more life experience than me.

 

“Good,” she lets me go and we walk over to my dad. “Thank you Alpha Stiles, I’m glad that went so smoothly. Some clients can be so irritating, they delight in making their own lives so much harder.”

 

And that was so a dig at me, “Ms Williams, it was fine, really. And thank you for sorting out my school for me. I wasn’t thinking when I bolted down here, all I could think about was Peter,” and that is part of the truth, plus if I’m a Mate, I’m supposed to be devoted to Peter anyway.

 

She bows to me again, “Yes, I’ve observed Mates in the past, nothing will ever get between them. Now I have plans to work on. Call if you need anything.”

 

“I will and good luck on your planning,” I give her a thumbs up and sit next to dad so I can go back to waiting. I just hope she doesn’t spark the next world war with her plans before we can get away, or derail her plans without pissing her off even more.

 

Stirring next to me dad says, “No one’s come out yet. But if anyone can help Peter, I’m sure Melissa will. She’s been working with Alan a lot. She’s improvised even more and saved all of the werewolves in the Pack more than once.”

 

I spend another ten fruitless minutes staring at the door and then Dream Melissa pops out with a smile, “He’s woken up. They need to run a few tests and then you can see him.” I’m so relieved that I sigh loudly and flee to the bathroom for a pee break. Part of me is doing a happy dance that Peter will live, and a very small cynical part of me notes that this would have been the perfect opportunity for Peter to die, and I could have escaped. I squash that last part down and go to sit by dad again.

 

Almost an hour later the door opens and Melissa, the real Melissa walks out looking grim.


	13. Chapter 13

Scrambling to my feet I stand there a bit awkwardly as she walks over, “Stiles, he’s going to be fine. He woke up and he’s passed all the tests with flying colours. But.”

 

“No,” I shake my head, “No buts. He’s going to be fine.” They said ‘But’ about mom way too many times. Dad’s arm settles around me and I wait for the not-but bit of news.

 

“But,” Melissa says it firmly, “He’s been through a hell of a lot. He may have healed the worst of it, and he’s working on the rest, but it takes energy and time. He needs rest, and food.”

 

Oh, that’s not a bad but and I nod jerkily. I made Peter stay in bed before, in New York after I was sick. I can totally do that again. “Yeah, okay, that’s totally a thing he will do. Rest and food.”

 

“That’s not all,” She frowns softly and then she comes for a hug. I don’t like the fact that she’s touching me and I pat my hand gently on her back. “Kiddo, he is healing, I promise. No matter what he looks like, he is healing.” She grips me harder and I have to make myself remember that this is Melissa, that the fact my skin is crawling and my heart is starting to stutter in fear is a natural reaction because of what happened in Sacramento. “Stiles, don’t freak out when you see him. The feeding tube is so he can sleep and his body can still get the protein and nutrients it needs because of his Alpha healing. The IVs are to keep his fluids up and there’s a type of antibiotic in there to save his body from having to deal with infections for the time being. And there are a lot of bandages to keep his wounds closed until he finishes healing them.”

 

Oh. “Okay,” I nod and I really want her to stop touching me now. I try to take a step away from her but her hands tighten on my back and I swallow back my flinch.

 

“There’s something else,” and she finally lets me go and looks up into my face, “We’re not sure what they did to him, other than general torture, but his chest area.” She shakes her head, “I don’t understand his x-rays, I can see the fractures, the impact sites, it was like they were hitting him over and over again in the same place and then letting him partly heal before they started the next round. Luckily his heart seems fine for all the rough treatment going on above it.” She pats my shoulder, “I’m glad he got out of there when he did, he might be an Alpha but there’s only so much anyone can take before it’s too late.”

 

And then she’s hugging me again, “I promise that’s all of the bad news kiddo, now go in there and reassure him you’re okay. Your name was the first thing on his lips, and he’s been asking for you constantly.”

 

Her arms let me go and I hurry to the door, partly to see Peter, and partly to get away from all the hugging. I really hate being touched. Taking a deep breath I step into Peter’s hospital room ready for the worst and then stop in shock.

 

I’m used to Peter dominating any area he’s in. It’s like he’s bigger than he really is. I’m used to being physically taller than him, but he tends to make me feel smaller because he’s just so very Peter.

 

He’s laying on his back and the hospital bed makes him look so small. Fragile. Breakable. I’m glad now that Melissa took the time to tell me about the feeding tube and the other bits because he isn’t just bandaged a little, he’s like a freaking mummy, there are even some across his face. There are two IVs in his left arm and I can see they’ve attached something to one of his fingers, the lead runs to a monitor that’s flashing up his heart rate. It spikes for a few seconds and then it drops down again.

 

Even with Melissa’s warning I can’t help blurting out, “Jesus Peter, you look like crap dude.” Going to his bed side I get a close up view and I can see both of his eyes have been blackened, there’s one of those things on his nose that makes me think it was broken. And I ask, “Is there anywhere I can touch you that won’t hurt you?”

 

“No,” He whispers it softly with a voice that cracks and breaks. His eyes burn red for a few seconds before fading to blue.

 

“Holy mother of god, don’t try and talk if it hurts,” I hover feeling more useless than before and try to hang onto what my Melissa and the real Melissa said about him. “Um, so they said you’re going to get better. You just need time and food. We’ll get you that time and food Peter,” I promise him, lying through my teeth, because looking at him I won’t be able to move him for a while, and there are hunters gathering in Miami. Some of them might follow the Code, most won’t, if they learn about Peter they might just come a huntin’, because they can, and he’s vulnerable right now.

 

“Lie,” He hisses.

 

“Fuck,” I rub my face, “Stupid werewolf ears.” I don’t know how much to tell him.

 

“Everything,” Comes Lydia’s muffled voice through the door, “Don’t lie to him, he’ll know if you are. If you were injured would you want to be lied to? Or would you prefer the truth? And remember this is Peter you’ll dealing with.”

 

“Fine,” I huff out a sigh and tell him what Ms Williams told me. Then I have to explain about Mr Williams now being Ms Williams.

 

He goes quiet for a while, so I drag a chair over to his bed and sit down, my ass is going to get so numb but I don’t care. Glaring at the bandages on his hand I settle back and wait. Yawning I close my eyes and tip my head back. I have Peter in one, slightly battered and bruised, piece and I’m sure between us we’ll work out how to get him out of here. Maybe most of the rest of the supernatural people too, a vacation somewhere hunter free sounds awesome right now.

 

“You should leave,” Peter croaks out as I start to doze off in the chair.

 

“Huh? Wha?” I’m not at my best when I’m sleepy. “We can’t leave Peter, we need to heal a bit more first, then we can sneak off somewhere safe.” I wipe the drool off my face and stand up. I can’t just sleep in the chair I need a bed and some other things, “I’m gonna go and talk to someone. They should have a cot bed I can borrow, and I should probably eat and take my meds.” I stretch and yawn again. “Sorry Peter, I’ve not had a lot of sleep, I’ll be back in a flash honey, you need me to get you anything? You know, other than a new non hurting body?”

 

He just blinks at me so I take that as a no and wander out of the room to try and organise a few things. The cot is a must. As is food and meds for me, luckily my backpack has my meds. I’ll also need some clothes but I can go to good will for a few things to tide me over until we’re home again. And the big thing I need is a way to keep me and Peter entertained while he’s stuck in that damn bed healing.

 

Dad and Melissa are sitting in the waiting area being cute. It’s weird to see. I’m so used to them just being friends that watching dad holding her hand and murmuring softly to her is just alien to me. In a good way, but still alien. He spots me first, “Stiles, is everything okay?”

 

“Yeah, apart from Peter being hurt, things are awesome dad. He’s going to get better and that’s all that matters. I wanted to talk to someone about getting a cot for me to sleep in, and some food, I’m starving, my meds are in my backpack, and I smell, my clothes smell,” I flail my arms and add, “Just boring stuff. Oh and Peter and I are going to go stir crazy in there without something to do.”

 

He stands up, though I notice he gives Melissa’s hand a quick squeeze first, “Go back in with Peter, I’ll handle the boring stuff for you.” He walks over to me and pats my shoulder, “Don’t worry about anything except being there for Peter.”

 

“Thanks dad,” I give him a huge hug, “Just thanks.”

 

“Anytime Siles, anytime.” He hugs me back and then he leaves with Melissa to go and round some things up for me.

 

Free to go and keep an eye on Peter I settle back in my seat by his bed and grin, “So you wanna play i-spy?” I get a deep sigh from him though his mouth twitches a bit like he wants to smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah look a nice ending, kind of, for once :)


	14. Chapter 14

Bleary eyed I eat my breakfast at Peter’s bedside and wait for the medical team to turn up, again. They started out invading our room and waking us up last night, every hour on the hour, then it moved to two hours, and they finally want to extend it to four hours. I’m going to be kicked out for a bit as re-examine Peter and redo some of his bandages. I need to shower anyway so I’ll use the time to get clean before I’m allowed back in.

 

I’m far happier than I was yesterday. The team have gone from cautious about Peter’s healing to outright happy at the progress he’s been making. Some of the bandages are going to be coming off this morning.

 

I get to finish my breakfast before I have to leave and I try to enjoy my solitary shower. I want to revel in the space, the room, the fact I can wash myself. Locking the door behind me I frown at how flimsy the door and lock are. Stripping down I rub my arms to stop the goosebumps forming. The water pressure is rubbish and I have to twist more than I’d like to get the few bits of my back that I can. My feet and toes nearly cause me to fall over and I can’t keep an eye on the door as I wash them. Rushing through my drying I drag on some of my dad’s spare clothes, they stick a little on my damp skin, but I breathe easier when I have them on. My hair refuses to do anything so I let it lie flat and leave the small steamy room.

 

The waiting room is empty at the moment so I pace up and down. Dream Boyd keeps me company and starts to slowly work his way through some of the mixed exercise stuff we do. It’s a totally mash up of Yoga, Pilates and some Tai Chi moves our instructors enjoys doing.

 

As the waiting room is empty I do some warm ups and then join in with Boyd. It’s been days since I’ve done this and I quickly fall back into the rhythm of the moves. I don’t do anything hard, or heavy, or anything to make me sweat. I just want to shake my muscles out and I’m mid move when the door to Peter’s room opens and the team come out.

 

They’re smiling and nodding so it must have gone well. They’ve all rotated on and off the team so they can get some rest too. Melissa is with them and she breaks away to come over to me. I hold my ground and hope she doesn’t hug me today. She doesn’t, she slings her arm around my shoulder, “Good news Stiles. We’ve taken about half the bandages off. His x-rays show the breaks are nearly gone without a trace. In a few days he’ll be back to normal. He’ll still be tired for a while as he builds his reserves back up, but he’ll be good as new.”

 

“Awesome,” I crow and grin at her. I slide out from under her arm and I don’t miss the slight frown as I do it, “Thank you, seriously thank you. Can I go see him?” I act like I moved away from her because I want to see Peter and she’s back to smiling.

 

“Yes, just don’t tire him too much, and if he wants to sleep let him,” She waves me off and I go bound through the door to Peter.

 

“Hey Peter,” I skid into the room and flounder to get my balance back. “Did you miss me?”

 

“Always,” His voice is still very quiet but it doesn’t hurt him to talk anymore.

 

Smirking I come up to the bed and then freeze. Melissa wasn’t kidding, most of the bandages are gone, leaving bruised flesh covered in scars on show. The blankets and horrible hospital gown cover large expanses of him but his arms and parts of his face are open to the air. And then I blurt, “Your hair, what the hell did they do to your hair?”

 

He loves his hair, he messes around with it, he fusses over it, he puts so much product in it. And now it’s so freaking short, it’s shorter than mine. His mouth pulls down on one side, “They took it.”

 

“Jesus, Peter,” I very gingerly put my hand over his and his fingers curl to hold my hand. “Damn.”

 

“Is it so very bad?” He asks and one of his fingers moves against my hand.

 

Taking his question seriously I study his new haircut, “No, not really, it’s different from what I’m used to, and you won’t be able to wear it the same way anymore. You’ll probably end up stealing my gel too. I’m thinking you could rock this look for as long as you want to.”

 

His lips twitch into a smile, “It would be easier to look after, and I wouldn’t need my hairdryer anymore,” He muses.

 

Hooking the nearest chair leg with my foot I drag a chair over and sit with a grunt, “Yeah, but I’ll miss running my fingers through your hair when we make out. Plus you used to look totally adorable when we woke up in the morning and your hair did this fluffy thing,” I wave my free hand over my head trying to demonstrate.

 

One eyebrow lifts and he questions, “Fluffy?”

 

“Yup,” I lean forward and prop my elbow on the bed, and then rest my chin on my fist. My other hand is still holding Peter’s and I absently rub his fingers back, being as gentle as I can be. “I believe I said adorable too.”

 

Being Peter he simply nods, “Yes I am adorable,” then he gives me a look with red eyes and hint of fangs in his mouth, “but not fluffy.”

 

Laughing at him I go back to describing the epic fluffiness of his bed head in as minute detail as I can. I’ve been learning to read Peter and he’s being calm and accepting the teasing from me. It’s when his eyes flicker to the door and one of his many masks slips over his face that I tense.

 

Someone knocks on the door and dad sticks his head round, “Stiles, Peter.” I sit back up and turn to smile at him, careful to keep Peter’s hand in mine.

 

“Sheriff,” Peter’s fallen back on his ‘nice’ personality.

 

“Hey dad,” I greet him and watch as he comes all the way into the room and then snags another chair. He sets it next to mine and sits down. His arm automatically moving to cover the back of my chair.

 

“I see my clothes aren’t too big for you,” Dad’s knee nudges mine and his clothes kind of swamp me.

 

Plucking at the t-shirt with my free hand I shake my head, “Yeah, they’re not a bad fit, I might keep them,” and I really do want to keep them, they’d be a physical reminder that my dad was back in my life, even for a short time.

 

Snorting dad lifts the arm behind me and ruffles my hair, “Well next time pack clothes. Though I hope to god there’s no more next times. Damn supernatural shit and damn hunters.” He turns his head towards Peter, “Gave me quite the turn to get a call from Stiles out of the blue like that.”

 

“Oh?” Peter might appear to be interested, but I’m fairly sure it’s not for the reasons most people would be.

 

“Yeah. He was at an airport trying to get to you when he called. I thought my heart was going to stop when he said you were in Miami, I thought he was there too. Then he told me he had to get to Miami to find you,” Dad keeps talking and goes on about how they ran around and got ready to come and how they’d managed to get a red eye to Orlando.

 

“It’s the closest place we could find a plane going to. Luckily Stiles was landing there too so we could all drive down to Miami,” He shakes his head, “I always wanted to come to Florida, can’t say this is how I wanted to visit though.”

 

“Dad,” I butt him gently with my shoulder and he does the same back.

 

It’s a comfortable silence that falls for a few minutes and then dad asks Peter if he follows any sports. Peter still can’t talk that much but admits to loving basketball. I totally tell on him and his team back in Wolf Creek. They won the mini town tournament, mostly because the main competition were either dead, in jail, or in the case of Kevin, refused to go up against the Masons and Peter. I don’t tell dad that bit, instead I embellish the final game and wax lyrical about the final winning basket Peter got.

 

Laughing at my outlandish description dad gives Peter another nod, “Congratulations Peter, it sounds like an epic game,” nudging me with his shoulder again dad asks, “So I’m guessing you were cheering him on then?”

 

“Yup,” I puff my chest out proudly, “Me and Aaron, he’s the nephew of the twins in the team, we did our team proud. Even Aaron’s mom, Sharon, couldn’t drown us out.” I babble on a bit more about the celebrations. School. My friends. Our house. Some of our date nights. Occasionally Peter chips in or dad asks a question that has me chattering away at him.

 

When our door opens I blink in surprise as the medical team troop in. I didn’t notice the time slip by. I was so in the zone with my dad and with Peter. I can’t believe Peter’s behaving so well at the moment and I’m really happy for the first time in days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry :( Tomorrow's update will either be late, or not at all. Life too manic right now.


	15. Chapter 15

I’d had to suffer through another shower on my own yesterday morning.  This morning I get to shower with Peter.  Instead of worrying about the flimsy door I’m busy getting that damn gown off of him and then stripping myself down too.

 

While I’m happy my dad is spending so much time with me and Peter, he spent all that first day with us and about half of yesterday too, it’s nice to have us time too.

 

All of the bandages have come off of Peter.  He’s still weak but getting there.  Only a few fading lines mar his skin now.  Nearly all of the bruises have gone and his nose is no longer broken and patched up.  He lets me help him into the little shower and when I step in too it’s cramped and squashed, and it feels perfect to do this with him again.

 

Wrapping my arms around him I press our chests together and bury my face in his neck, “Oh god I’ve missed this Peter,” and I have.  His arms are hot and strong and then he’s nosing at my neck, I bare it to him automatically and sigh as he places a biting kiss there. I buck forward into his body when he sucks a mark on my neck.

 

One of his hands rests in the middle of my back and the other trails down to gently grip my ass.  I’m preoccupied with holding onto his shoulder and putting my other hand to the back of his neck to hold him where he is.  His growl is low and vibrates through me.  God I’ve even missed this too.

 

When we pull back his eyes are burning red and I’m a bit dizzy, I know I’m going to have the most spectacular mark on my neck, and I grin at him.  He’s such a cave man about that, but I know it’s one of his ways to gain control of himself and to show others that I’m with him.  My hand reaches up to his neck, “Damn werewolf healing, I can’t do that to you,” he jolts slightly in surprise and then gives me a pleased smile, one of his more real ones.

 

This morning I revel in my shower, in being washed and pampered, and constantly bumping into him and his body.  I do attempt to wash him back but because we’re so close I mostly rub the soap onto him with my stomach.  Rinsing is just as bad and we slide around in the tiny shower. I have to fight not to keel over laughing.

 

Staggering out of the shower we sort of degenerate into a towel fight, each of us trying to dry the other while not giving up the water dripping off of us.  He wins, I don’t care, and I get revenge by rubbing his hair dry for him.  My old clothes have been cleaned so I’ve got my jeans and one of my t-shirts to wear, while Peter is borrowing some of dad’s clothes.  They fit him better than me, even if he has to turn up the jeans a bit.

 

Peter fusses with his hair but seems satisfied with it really quickly and then he does my hair.  I luxuriate under his hands and when he scratches my scalp I nearly purr, “Uh Peter, magic hands honey, magic hands.”

 

Ready to face the day head on we leave the bathroom and I hold my hand out to him, he doesn’t even hesitate as he takes it in his own, he laces our fingers together and we go back to his room.  He should be released this afternoon and then Ms Williams is going to try and sneak us away.

 

So far the hunters are sticking to their convention centre, no one is hopeful that they’ll stay there, it’s simply a matter of time before they finish what they’re up to and revert to type.  Even the hunters who follow the new code, and helped me save Peter, are packing up to leave for a while and there’s a steady stream of supernatural creatures fleeing the area.  I have my fingers crossed that most of them make it out of here alive.

 

Strolling to Peter’s room we find it open and I take advantage of this moment by wrapping him up in a hug and making contented noises as his arms slide around me too.  He’s almost back to being Peter again, he’s starting to take up more room than he should, part of me is happy about that, I’ve missed him, part of me knows he’s going to try and take control of us again.

 

Just like at the Willows I have a rapidly closing window of time.  I know that I can easily live the rest of my life with Peter and be ecstatically happy with him just the way we are, but part of me is always going to test the limits he puts on my prison.  And right now I have more freedom than I usually do, I also refuse to dwell on the fallout from me calling dad, I’m going to live in the now and seize the day.

 

Pulling back from him slightly I ask, “Are you healed enough for kissing?  And can I kiss you?”  I can’t just pounce on him, I just can’t, there are too many unpleasant memories for me to do that to him.

 

It’s like watching a light being switched on, he goes from Peter, to seductive Peter in the blink of an eye. I have no idea how he does that, but it makes my heart speed up in a good way.  His eyes drop to my lips and then flick back up to my eyes, “Yes and yes,” he breathes it out and I don’t wait, I make my move and kiss him gently.

 

When we first started this thing, I’d never been kissed, now I’ve had practice with all our making out, I know how to tilt my head, how to slant my mouth over his mouth, how to move my lips with his.  We kiss tenderly and he’s giving up all control to me.  His arms come up over my shoulders and mine go around his waist and hips to grip his very perfect ass in my hands.

 

A shiver of desire runs through me and he’s pressed his body into mine, he’s tipping his head so I can deepen the kiss. I take the hint and slip my tongue along the seam of his lips, he opens them with a low whine and I’m suddenly so very aware that I nearly lost him. He was nearly taken away from me.  He nearly died.  Yet here he is alive, well, and tangling his tongue around mine before he does this sucking thing that he knows I love.

 

Grunting, I act on impulse and bend my knees, running my hands down the backs of his thighs.  We have to break the kiss but I manage to do what I wanted and I pick him up.  He look so surprised and I nearly topple over with him, except he saves us by wrapping his legs around my waist so I can balance him easier.   He’s now taller than me by a few inches and he stares down at me, “Stiles,” He growls my name in a very good way and his pupils dilate as I walk blindly forward.

 

The front of my legs bump into the bed and I lower him slowly to the bed.  His legs are still open and his inner thighs press against my hips.  Letting him sit on the bed for a few seconds I look at his mouth and then back at his eyes, I wait impatiently for his nod of consent and then I go back to kissing him.

 

In this position I can feel his erection and I groan knowing that I did that to him, that he wants me, that he desires me. My hips snap forward and he gasps.  My tongue all but plunges into his mouth even as my hands grip his hips and pull his t-shirt up out of his jeans, I follow that up by going under his t-shirt and exploring his firm back with my fingers.

 

His skin is warm under my hands and I rub his back feeling his muscles and body move.  He’s so very alive right now, so fully of vitality, and as his body arcs I move my hips again and we both groan at the friction that causes. Losing myself in his kisses, in the way his hands tangle in my hair to encourage me to keep going, I sort of sink into the desire of wanting Peter, and let go as I revel in him being here, of him being alive, and so very Peter-y.

 

Pulling back from his far too tempting mouth, I try and get my breath back, even as I drag him into a giant hug and cling to him.  “Fuck,” I gasp and hold him as tightly as I can, “Don’t ever fucking do that to me again Peter.  Jesus I thought you were going to die.  So don’t, just don’t.”

 

“Stiles,” He’s using his soft coaxing voice, “I’m okay. I’m really okay, and I have no intention of ever leaving you again.” His arms tighten on me, “I have a very full life with you mapped out and I fully intend to live through it all.”

 

Nodding I press my face into his neck and have a huge freak out moment, I’m shaking and I think I cry a bit.  I was so close to Peter not being here and yes there will always be a part of me that will hate being with him, just because of how we started and who he is.  Yet there is a much bigger part of me that did everything to get to him, to save him, to protect him, and that will be devastated if anything happened to him.

 

My Melissa was right.  In leaving me for Miami Peter has given me space so I can work out how I feel about him, and god help me, I’m falling in love with him.  It’s nothing like how it was with Lydia or Derek.  It’s not all consuming like those, or wrapped up in lust, or simple.  I don’t even know how he’s managed it, but I know he’s had a hand in it, he wouldn’t leave anything to chance, and if I love him I’m more likely to stay with him.

 

Admitting that I care about him is hard but the proof of how happy I am that he survived can’t be ignored.  It won’t blind me to the truth about him and what he is.  It won’t even hide the fact that Peter’s probably not capable of love, just some twisted approximation of it, and I’m more than willing to accept that from him.

 

We stay like that for a while as he comforts me and reassures me that he’s okay and he’s never leaving me.  “You are everything to me Stiles, everything,” he tells me and I know he means it, that I really am everything to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for being so patient :)


	16. Chapter 16

Off balance from my little revelation about how I feel about Peter, I just want some time with him. Only he’s now been released and the ghouls are planning how to get us out of Florida.  He’s been so good with my dad and hasn’t been his usual self so far, but I don’t want to push it.  So of course we end up sitting at a table with dad, Melissa, Mr Argent, and Derek for lunch.

 

The table is a nice big round table, in a nice room overlooking the ocean, all the places are spaced out nice and evenly, the food on the plates is nice, the drinks are ice cold and nice.  I fidget in my seat as Peter smiles nicely, and acts nicely. 

 

It can’t last.

 

I’m seated between dad and Peter, so I slide my foot along the floor and bump it against Peter’s.  Oh dear god don’t let him freak out and slaughter everyone.

 

A rather awkward silence has fallen over our table, I pick nervously at my food and wait for disaster to strike.  The others seem to be doing the same.  Only Peter’s unaffected and he’s tucking into his food with gusto.  He does pause with another forkful of food halfway up this mouth and asks me, “Stiles?  Are you alright?  You’ve barely touched your food.”

 

Putting my fork down I dodge the question slightly, “Do you know how long they’re going to be?” Meaning the ghouls and their little plan.  Their last plan consisted of murdering the hunters so I dread to think what this one will be.  We’ll need at least one, if not two, back up plans.

 

He takes the missed bite of his food and chews it slowly, he’s obviously thinking and then he swallows, “Well, they are much older than us, they tend to make good plans, and if we don’t like the plans, then I can carry you through the Everglades.  Most things will avoid me, and I’m a very strong swimmer.”

 

Carry me across the Everglades?

 

“Whoa.  Really?” I know my jaw has dropped.

 

Reaching over he closes my mouth and smirks at me, “Alpha werewolf, remember?”  His fingers trail over my jaw before he goes back to eating.

 

“Yeah,” I nod and eat some food, though my eyes stray to the other four occupants of our table.  Clearing my throat I ask, “And what about my dad?”

 

Body going absolutely statue still Peter turns his head to look at me, and his eyes blaze just for a second, before he adds, “Well, I could take you and your dad.  And my nephew can take Melissa and Chris.”

 

“Thank you,” I tell him and I mean it.  I hope it doesn’t come to that, because I can just see him somehow convincing all the deadly things in the Everglades to attack and kill the other four people, while we escape unscathed.

 

He goes back to eating and I follow suit.  If anything happens I’ll need the energy from the food to keep going.  And since this is my life and I’m cursed something is going to happen.

 

I make it through the food and no one says anything else.  It’s oppressive and I’m glad when it’s over so I can stand up and grab Peter’s hand.  “Well that was awesome.  Excuse us, we’re going off to do something, in another part of the building,” and then I drag Peter out of the room and away from the eminent disaster about to take place.

 

Escaping to our room I flop onto his bed and relax with a groan.  Sitting on the bed too Peter nudges me, “Move over.”  Instead I hold my arms out to him and beckon him to just lie down so I can cuddle him.  “Fine, don’t complain if your stomach is too full though,” and then I get Peter partly on top of me and burying his face into my neck.  One of his legs slides between mine and I tense for a few seconds.

 

We wiggle around a bit to get comfortable and I pet his hair, “See this was totally a good idea,” I tell him smugly and let him get his cuddle on.  I press a kiss to his forehead and I’m grateful that nothings caused a bloodbath yet.

 

“Hmm,” He hums in a very non-committal way and then he tenses up before melting again.

 

I’m unsurprised when there’s a knock on the open door and dad’s there, “Hey Stiles, hey Peter.  Mind if I come in?” He’s already wandered in so it’s a bit of a pointless question.

 

“Sure dad,” I say because I can and I squeeze Peter a little so I’m fussing him too.  “’S’up?”

 

He sits down on his usual chair and I know he’s really not happy right now, “Not much Stiles, waiting to find out how I’m getting home.”  There’s something about how he’s sitting that makes me start to worry, he’s up to something.  “Though thinking about it. If they know Peter’s here in Miami, they’ll expect him to run straight back to Wolf Creek, it might be better if you two divert somewhere else for a short period of time.”  Oh holy mother of god, he’s not going to suggest what I think he’s going to suggest, is he? “You know you’re always welcome in Beacon Hills,” he leaves it dangling there and I wait for Peter to say something, he doesn’t, he lays there passively with his ear to my chest, he’ll be able to listen to my heart skipping all over the place.

 

Just a few short months ago I might have taken dad up on this offer, but not now and I give him a brittle smile when I say, “Thanks dad, but we’ll either go home or let the ghouls hide us.  The first place hunters would look for Peter is at our home, followed by Beacon Hills.  And I have school to catch up on, I’ve skipped some days because of all this and I don’t want my grades to suffer.”

 

Dad smiles and I know that smile, he’s acting like he’s accepting my decision but he isn’t, not really.  “Okay Stiles, that makes sense.  When this hunter thing is over and you’re on vacation I guess you could come visit then.  You’d have more time too. Everyone misses you and it’d be great for you all to catch up.”

 

Now Peter starts to react, there’s nothing outward to give him away, but this close to him I can feel that twisted up energy of his shifting.  Shaking my head I tell dad, “Sorry dad, but no.  This summer we’re going to be hanging out in our garden, finding out everything we can do in the lake, and I need to start looking into what college I want to go to.” 

 

I don’t tell him that I don’t really want to go back to Beacon Hills.  I don’t want to have to go to go back and face my dad choosing Melissa, Scott, and work before he chooses me.  Yes he chose to come and help me this time, but it’s not the norm.  I’m not being that fair to him though, his job is incredibly important, and if I needed the Sheriff I’d expect him to come, just like anyone in Beacon Hills should, because that is his job, and he’s damn good at it.  Yet the hospital room is reminding me of my mom, and how I sat with her when she died, how I held her hand as the machines beeped to let me know my mom was gone, how I had to get the nurses to pronounce her dead, and how I had to wait for my dad to finish his job before he came to do the adult stuff I was too young to do.  And I can’t forget that he picked the harpy over me, yes I’d been lying to him, and yes I’d been a terrible son, but he still picked her.

 

And I can’t go back to my old house, and sleep in my old room, and pretend he didn’t kick me out, that he didn’t want me in his life.

 

“Stiles,” He pauses and he’s thinking of how to talk me into going for a visit.

 

“No,” I say it as firmly as I can.  Slipping out from under Peter, I stand up and motion to dad, he stands up too, with a big frown.  Hugging him tightly I don’t want to let him go, but I know I’m going to have to.  “Dad I love you.  I do. You have no idea how much I love you.”

 

His arms are holding me just as tightly, “I hear a but in your voice Stiles.”

 

“Yeah, that’s because there is a but.”  My hands have already bunched up the material of his shirt, I’m clinging to it like I’ll never let him go.  “But.  I live in Wolf Creek now dad.  I have a husband.  A house. Friends.”  Pausing slightly I have to swallow before continuing, “I have a life there dad.”  My eyes are stinging and I’m going to get all emotional in a moment.

 

Dad’s sort of nodding, “Okay. Okay Stiles. I get it. I do,” he sounds all choked up too.  “I thought,” he breaks off and has to clear his throat.  “I thought when you called me.”  His hands are bunching on my t-shirt now, “I thought maybe you were reaching out to me.  That you’d had time.  Only I’m pushing aren’t I?  Sorry. I just miss you so much Stiles.  I’ve tried to give you space, like you asked, but it’s so hard.  It’s too quiet without you.”

 

“Dad,” Oh god I really am going to cry in a second.  “Dad, I, dad, I miss you too, so much.  Daddy,” I needed him, I needed him so much, and he wasn’t there.  He didn’t want me then, and if he finds out what Brad did to me, he won’t want me now either.

 

“Stiles,” He sobs my name and adds, “I can’t believe we fought like that. I’m so sorry Stiles, I’m sorry, please, I was wrong.  You were trying to protect everyone, and trying to save people, and I called you a liar and worse.” Oh god dad’s crying now, “When I got home and your things were all gone. Stiles. what I said to you was wrong, but I never thought you’d leave, that you’d walk out. I’m so sorry.”

 

God now we’re both crying and my dad said sorry, he said sorry to me, I really hope that means he doesn’t hate me.  And part of me is so happy, and sad, and messed up, but he said sorry.  A tiny part of me is running his words through my head again and I stiffen in shock, pushing him back a bit I shake my head, “Dad, I didn’t leave. You kicked me out. Remember? You said I wasn’t your kid anymore.”


	17. Chapter 17

“No,” Dad’s shaking his head and he’s still sort of crying, and I’m still sort of crying, and we’re both shaking. “No, I came home and you were gone. Gloria said,” He trails off and dawning horror slides over his face, “No, no, no, no. Crap how could I have been so stupid?” He takes a step back from me and crumples into this chair.

 

And then I mentally catch up with him and sway on my feet. Strong arms slide around me and hold me up, Peter lets me lean on him as I feel the need to throw an epic tantrum wash over me. Either that or I need to go hunt down the damn harpy and do something Peter-y to her.

 

“Stiles,” Peter’s voice cuts through the spinning in my head, “Stiles, breathe, you need to breathe.” He turns me so I’m facing him and he makes me cuddle him, “Breathe with me Stiles, breathe with me.”

 

It’s a simple task and I do as he says. I cling to Peter and I let him take charge, all he does is comfort me, holds me, soothes me. When I’ve got myself under some kind of control I lift my head up and get ready to face my dad again, only now Peter steps in, “Well, this is an interesting little problem isn’t it? Each of you believes the other rejected you. Yet I’ve noticed one huge glaring consistency in your stories.”

 

“Gloria,” Dad says and I twist in Peter’s arms to see him, he looks so tired, so worn, so ready to just give up.

 

“If that’s who Stiles so affectionately refers to as the ‘Harpy’, then yes,” Peter continues to rub my back for me. “Stiles has told me all about being kicked out, how he was only allowed to take his school things and a few clothes. And I’m going to guess that you were told Stiles left on his own because of the big argument?”

 

“Yeah,” Dad nods, “And his whole room was empty of all of his things, there was nothing but furniture in there. She said he stormed out. She said he never wanted to speak to me again, and that he’d said I was a crappy dad, and how he wished I’d died and not his mom.”

 

“NO!” I lunge out of Peter’s arms and over to my dad, “No, dad, I wouldn’t, I wouldn’t. You’re the best dad ever, I’m the screw up, I’m the one that kept getting it wrong. I got you fired. I’m the one that messed everything up. It’s my fault not yours.”

 

We end up in the most awkward angles as we hug and he’s saying, “No Stiles, it’s not your fault, I’m the adult, and I’m the one that brought that woman into our lives.”

 

Again Peter interferes but all he does is gets us to sit on the bed so we can hug more comfortably. He stands near me and rubs my shoulder as he makes us talk it out a bit more. There isn’t much more, she’d told me dad didn’t want me anymore and to never come back. She told him I’d left, and then she told him I came to the house on the day I left Beacon Hills and said I needed time before I could bear to talk to dad again, and if he tried to contact me I’d go and never come back.

 

All this time and we were each waiting for the other. If only I’d reached out to him earlier. I feel like such an idiot, so much for my big IQ.

 

Huffing out a sigh dad sits there next to me and hugs me like he’ll never let me go again. I’m totally down with that plan and I get ready for a damn long sit. Only dad’s cell phone starts to ring, the special one that says it’s work. With a deep sigh he digs it out and answers, “Sheriff Stilinski.” I refuse to let go of him just now and he frowns a few times, “Parrish I can’t hear you, you’re breaking up. Let me find a landline and I’ll call you back.” He ends the call and he clearly doesn’t want to go and find a landline to call his Deputy back.

 

“Its okay dad,” I lie and give him a squeeze before letting him go, “They need you right now, and you are the Sheriff.”

 

He looks so torn, “Crap, I don’t need this right now, I just need you Stiles. I just got my little boy back.”

 

I could point out that technically I’m an adult, with the house and husband to prove it, instead I act like I’m okay, “It’s okay daddy, I’ll be here when you get back.” I pat Peter, “It’s not like me and Peter are going anywhere,” and dad is going to have to get used to us being a package deal, it’s not like Peter’s ever going to let me out of his sight for longer than a few hours.

 

“I won’t be long,” Dad kisses me on the forehead and gives me one last hug before he leaves the room.

 

Left alone with Peter I wait for the inevitable freak out from him. He goes to get a glass of water for me and some tissues. I wipe my face, blow my nose, and gulp the water. And then I’m lead to a chair, Peter sits and pulls me down into his lap. Letting him cuddle me I lean into him and reel from this latest big revelation in my life. All this time I thought my dad hated me, and all this time he thought I hated him.

 

A hand trails down my back and it’s surprisingly soothing. At least with Peter I know I’m the most important person in his life and he’ll do his best to pick me every single time.   The only reason he was here in Florida was to get rid of the damn land the hunters have always blocked any development on. This is the closest he’s ever come to leaving me, and it wasn’t his fault, it was the hunters’. Now we just have to escape from them.

 

Burying my face into Peter’s neck I try not to think too much. I’m sure I’m going to have a major freak out when we get home, when we’re safe again. When it’s just the two of us again and I won’t have to worry about him getting all possessive and accidently ripping someone’s intestines out because they got too close to me. Though Peter’s being shockingly reasonable at the moment. He’s supporting me without question, he’s not gotten upset that I called my dad, and he’s acting completely calm around everyone. This is not the Peter I’ve come to know, he’s not being overly possessive and he’s not trying to lock me in an ivory tower.

 

I can’t deal with Peter right now, so I don’t, I let him hold me and lean into him. I‘ll deal with the fallout from this later.

 

Much later.

 

“He’s coming back,” Peter murmurs, “And he’s not alone.” I don’t bother looking up when the door opens, it’s probably Melissa. Except Peter stiffens and says insincerely, “Argent, what a nice surprise.”

 

Lifting my head up I find dad is coming towards me looking worried, while Mr Argent is staying by the door and holding it open, he’s looking really worried. “Hale,” He nods to Peter.

 

“It’s Stilinski now,” Peter corrects him, “It translates as Awesome,” and I’m not prepared for dad to chuckle at that.

 

“Yeah it does,” Dad agrees and then he’s next to me ruffling my hair, “And I’m sorry but Parrish had some unsettling news. There are a few hunters in Beacon Hills, they’re nosing around and trying to find out things about Stiles.”

 

“Me? Why would they want to know about me?” I’m not a werewolf.

 

“I don’t know kiddo,” Dad’s hand stays on my shoulder and Peter’s arms hold me securely in his lap. “But we’re not sticking around to find out. Your lawyer is back and she has a plan to get us out of here, today.”

 

Oh thank god, I lean into Peter, “Good, I want to go home.” It will mean no longer being able to see my dad, but at least I know he loves me, at least I’ll know he’s safe and he still cares about me.

 

“That’s being arranged Alpha Stiles,” A woman’s voice says and I glance over to find Ms Williams standing next to Mr Argent. “We’ll handle the logistics and the hunters, you and Alpha Peter just need to stay safe. And we will get to the bottom of why the hunters are suddenly so interested in you.” I nod to her and I feel a bit safer already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so very, very sorry. Between work being more manic than a manic thing (they made someone redundant just before the busy season) and me working stupid hours, home life being crazy as we have to sell the house due to complicated mortgage things (ie we're losing the house, thank god for social housing) and we've just had a stay of execution for a few more months before we have to move. Urgh I could go on but I won't. Anyway, I've managed to work out a few story kinks and gotten slightly ahead, will try to post daily for a while until I catch myself up. :) Enjoy and thank you for bearing with me.


	18. Chapter 18

It happens so fast.

 

I don’t know why I’m so surprised it goes so very wrong. One second I’m sitting in the back seat of a car with Peter as we flee Miami, the next we’re in the middle of a hunter ambush as we pass through a boring suburb in Miami, and then Peter’s covering me with his half shifted body.

 

I can’t see anything.

 

I can hear plenty. I can hear the sound of rapid gunfire, and damn that is much louder than the movies make it out to be. I can’t hear anything else though.

 

And then Peter’s body jerks and goes still.

 

“Peter?” I whisper but there’s no response and that is so not good. What’s even worse is when his limp body is pulled off of me and there’s still no response from him. There are two hunters pointing guns at me though. “Um, hey?” I wave at them, “Not a werewolf. Very human. No shooting.”

 

One of them looks at a cell phone he’s taken out of his pocket and then back at me, “That’s him, that’s the Stilinski kid.” They put their weapons away, grab my legs, and then I’m yanked out of the car. I get in a few punches and some kicks, but they’re trained hunters and I’m not good enough to get away from them.

 

My struggles aren’t entirely in vain. I do get to see they’ve shot our driver and bodyguard, both have to be dead from the bullet holes in their heads. Peter’s down on the ground too, but he’s still breathing, and bleeding, and I’m sure the bullets they used on him are wolfsbane, because I can see the wounds turning black. “Peter!” I scream his name and redouble my efforts to get away from the two men holding me.

 

Since these are hunters there are more than just the two with me. And the others start to converge on Peter. “No! No, leave him alone. Damn it.” I feel a sting in my right arm and look over to see a needle in it, a needle that’s attached to someone injecting me with something. “What’s in that? What did you give me?” It must be some kind of sedative, and quick acting too, as I start to feel lethargic. My legs start to buckle allowing my abductors to drag me away easier.

 

In the distance I can hear the sound of sirens. Some brave soul has called the cops because the hunters have once again attacked in public. And then a howl roars through the fog building up in my head. It sounds like a very pissed off Peter. I smile but I can’t fight the darkness dragging me down.

 

We were so close to escaping Miami too. I was looking forward to going home with Peter. He’d promised me I could Skype my dad at least once a week. He’s still trying to give me everything and make me happy.

 

“Peter… Love you,” I mutter as I lose consciousness.

 

***

 

Truthfully I didn’t really expect to wake up. Or if I did I was expecting much worse accommodation than this. Instead I’m tied to a chair in a very expensive looking living room. I have an amazing view of the ocean and beach as the sun sets. The generic feel of the room hints that this is a hotel suite of some kind.

 

I’m physically alone in the room but I’m surrounded by my dream Pack, “Stiles!” Scott moves closer and kneels down beside me, “You’re okay. And we’ve been keeping an eye on Peter and your dad. Just breathe bro, just breathe,” I didn’t even know I was working up to a panic attack. Only his words aren’t helping, the last time I was tied up was when I was kidnapped and Peter was with me, or near me the whole time. Before that it was Brad, Brad would tie me up and hurt me.

 

“Stop,” Its dad, he’s right in my face, “Stop Stiles. You’re not there. Oren killed him. Oren is also dead. Concentrate on Peter, feel where he is.” I do as I’m told and Peter is miles away but Peter is alive, he’s alive, and I shudder in the chair. “Good, that’s good Stiles. Are you ready to listen to us now?” I give a shaky nod.

 

Derek and Chris both step forward at the same time and then stare at each other. Derek gives Chris a slight nod and then says, “You were ambushed by the hunters, you already know your assigned driver and bodyguard are dead,” I can remember the brief image of blood on their faces and the holes from the bullets. “Peter was also shot, multiple times, with wolfsbane. He killed most of the hunters before the cops showed up. He escaped and made it to safety, they’re dealing with his injuries now, he’s going to live, but he’s also too injured to come and get you and survive.”

 

Oh god Peter. He’s only just recovered from the torture. I nod to let them know I understand and now Chris starts to talk. “You’re in a big hotel and conference building in Miami. The whole building has been taken over by the hunters.” He pauses, “We’ve found out why they were so very interested in you and why they took you alive.” He comes closer and kneels down next to me opposite Scott, “Stiles, hunters take some things very seriously, like the Code and certain traditions. One of those traditions involves a pendant, it looks like the one Kate gave Allison but that one is actually a copy of the original.” I have no idea where he’s going with this. “We used to pick our Matriarchs from the names that would appear on the back of the pendant. That way we’d know the best of the best to lead us. They would sit on the council, they would rule over us, they would make sure we lived by the Code and we died by the Code.”

 

I sense a but in his tone. A very brief smile flickers on his face, “But, the pendant stopped picking Matriarchs. The last one was over ninety years ago and she passed away over a decade ago.”

 

And I still don’t know what this has to do with me. “Well,” Chris takes a breath, “Your name appeared on the pendant. You’re a Matriarch Stiles. And not just any Matriarch, you’re the first one picked by the pendant in living memory.”

 

I stare at Chris and wait for him to admit to playing a prank on me, or telling me what he really meant because I must have misheard him. I can’t possibly be a Matriarch for very obvious reasons, I’m not a hunter, I have no interest in being a hunter, and I may be in a gay relationship but I am not a girl.

 

“There have been male Matriarchs in the past,” Chris torpedoes one of my arguments, “But you’re right, you’re not a hunter and you’d never want to be one let alone live as one. Only,” He tilts his head as he thinks, “You do fit most of the criteria. You’re very practical, you will use any and all means necessary to protect those you care about, and at Wolf Creek you moved to try and stop a war between the hunters and supernatural.”

 

“That’s true,” Scott nods, and then frowns, “But I thought hunters had to be human? Stiles is a spark, doesn’t that disqualify him?”

 

“It should,” Nodding Chris stands up and paces. “The legends state that the pendant will find those most suited to be Matriarch, to lead, to keep us on the right path. If the pendant picked Stiles out of everyone else in the world,” he trails off and they all stare at me. Oh crap if they’re all counting on me we’re probably doomed.

 

Erika snorts and shakes her head, “Nope, this over blown necklace might just be that desperate it picked the only person for the job,” I’m not sure if that was supposed to help or not. She rolls her eyes at me and saunters towards me, “Stiles, you don’t back down. Even Brad could only cow you for short periods. If the hunters give you shit and try the ‘we hunt’ thing you’ll be right in their faces. You might just be able to drag them kicking and screaming into the real world and get them all some kind of therapy to deal with their violent homicidal tendencies.”

 

Boyd shrugs, “She does have a point. Only you would be suicidal enough to take on the entire hunter community if they’re wrong.”

 

They are over exaggerating, I’ve learnt better, I’ve learnt not to stick my nose in too much. If this crazy theory that I’m suddenly a Matriarch is right, all the hunters are gonna do is kill me if I get in their way.

 

“No,” Allison says and comes to stand by her dad, “They have to listen to you, and they can’t hurt you, you’re far too powerful for them to disobey.” I wiggle in the metal cuffs and I’m still tied to the chair, I don’t have any power at all, I’m at their non-existent mercy. I don’t expect her to move closer and bend down with a big predatory smile, “You’re wrong, you’re the Matriarch the pendant chose, you outrank all of them.”

 

It’s a nice thought, it still doesn’t change the fact that I’m the one tied to the damn chair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, Thank you so much for your kind words, they do help :) You are all stars :)


	19. Chapter 19

Watching the sun set near the Atlantic is very different to watching the same thing over the Pacific. It gives me something to do as I sit in the chair and wait for someone to come and undo my restraints.

 

Chris thinks this should be some kind of test, that I should be held by ropes with an obvious way to cut them available to me. Instead the metal holding me here isn’t something I can escape from.

 

Since the room I’m in is seriously boring, I’ve had my dream pack run off and go gather intel for me. Peter has successfully had all bullets removed and the wolfsbane purged from his body, he’s still seriously weak but he’ll live. Dad, Melissa, Mr Argent, and Derek, all made it safely out of Miami. They’ve found out about Peter and me and want to come back. The ghouls won’t let them at the moment and they’ve stopped fighting each other so they can make plans to come save me.

 

The Matriarchs have apparently all gathered in the biggest conference room, and it sounds huge, to the point that they have speakers set up and microphones, oh and they also have some Matriarchs on video call too. So far they’ve been detailing Peter’s killing sprees. They focused on Houston for about an hour, I’m glad no ones told me any details, I really don’t want to know. After that they just looped back to all the murders he committed in Beacon Hills, though I do learn one interesting fact, it was Peter that told Oren’s old gang where to find him. It really doesn’t surprise me, Peter was lurking in the parking garage while Oren was murdered, and that’s where he ambushed me.

 

I’m left in the room on my own for three hours and by the time someone does come to check on me it’s dark outside. I don’t jump when they use the key card in the door to unlock it, and when they switch on the lights I use the big windows as a type of mirror so I don’t strain myself turning to look at them. It’s not the men that grabbed me from the car. These ones are as uniformly hunter-y as they come. All of them have short hair, walk in that confident way as they constantly scan the room, wear dark colours, and my Chris points out all the weapons hidden on them.

 

None of us are sure what they’ll do to me so I go with being friendly until I can determine their threat level. I’m going with absolutely deadly until proven otherwise. “S’up?” I greet them and waggle one of my restrained hands.

 

They ignore my opening gambit and my stomach clenches, not talking to your hostage is often a bad sign. I make myself not tense as one of them kneels down behind my hair, and Scott is next to him, “Stiles, he’s going to touch your right hand. He doesn’t have a weapon, he’s frowning though.” The man does touch my hand and I don’t flinch.

 

“Metal,” A gravelly voice says, and what is it with hunters and deep voices? Do they gargle with sandpaper? “The restraints are metal.”

 

“Yeah,” I really don’t like his hand touching my wrist so I start snarking at him. “When you forcefully kidnap someone, murder their driver and bodyguard, then shoot their husband and mate, before drugging them into unconsciousness, the general idea is you tie them up so they can’t escape.”

 

Dad winces and I really should learn not to antagonise my captors, if this was Brad he’d have backhanded me by now. Boyd and Isaac hurry forward to help me not tense and we all have to wait for the man’s reaction. My pack are helpless to protect me as the man stands up and I mentally ready myself for his attack.

 

At least he’s not touching me anymore and I watch in the window as he turns to the others, “You, phone to get a Matriarch up here. And some tools to free him from these restraints. While you, go and guard the door.” Behind me one of the men hurries to the door and pulls out his gun as he sets up in a guarding position by the door. The other man moves swiftly to the phone and he must be dialling down as he asks for a Matriarch and then he starts using technically turns, I think he’s asked for lock picks and some bolt cutters.

 

Scott paces around me as the first man takes up a position like he’s guarding me from anything coming through the door. “This is a good sign, right?” He asks Chris. “I mean, they’re not acting like they want to hurt Stiles, and they seem upset he’s tied up with metal restraints.”

 

All the adults in my pack exchange looks and Chris shrugs. I’m with them on this, until I’m let freed to leave, all the hunters are dangerous to me. It’s not too long until Derek pops out of view and then back in, Two Matriarchs are on their way up, the rest of them have been told about how you were restrained and none of them are happy. They mentioned a test and freeing yourself.” Looks like Chris’ idea was right.

 

There’s a knock on the door and two older women walk in. They move like predators and I’m reminded, again, that in the world of hunters the women are usually deadlier than the males. Mrs Argent used to scare the crap out of me. I still feel bad Allison lost her mom, that’s never good for anyone, but I feel safer and less like she’s going to carve me up for annoying her.

 

“Hey, s’up?” I greet them and they ignore me too. “So if you’re getting things to break these restraints, does that mean I’m free to go?” Nothing, they just bend down to look at my hands and with a single nod to the guy behind me they walk back out. “Rude,” I huff out as the door closes and wiggle to get comfy on the chair. “Damn my butt is getting numb now,” I mutter and wonder what the female hunters are going to do next. Whatever they decide the males will carry out their orders.

 

“I’ll check,” Jackson says and vanishes. They guy is a douche, even as my imaginary pack, but my version tends to come through for me.

 

It triggers the rest of my pack to start patrolling to see what’s changed and there’s not much. Peter’s furious at being made to wait before he can come for me. The ghouls are scheming and have apparently tagged me with some kind of magic to try and see how badly hurt I am. Only the fact that they can tell I’m currently okay is holding Peter back from storming the place. Dad, Melissa, Derek, and Chris scheming on how to get back into the city to save me. And my bodyguard with his team from New York and then Wolf Creek just arrived in the city. All I have to do is either escape, or stall for time. The calvary is gathering, I just have to last until they can get here.

 

When the tools to free me arrive, I’m forced to sit there and endure these men touching my wrists. One of them is able to pick the lock so my left arm is soon free, but the right one is stuck and they have to cut me out. It’s not like they’re hurting me, but I hate being touched, I just want them to hurry up.

 

Finally I have both hands free and I massage my wrists as the men work on freeing my ankles. Neither of those locks will let them pick them so I have to endure them touching my lower legs as they cut the restraints. Also none of them talk to me so I have to rely on my pack to keep me calm.

 

The last restraint comes away and I wonder if I can just run for it. “No,” Lydia is studying the men around me. “They’re faster and better trained than you. Plus you’ll be stiff from being in the chair. If they are going to treat you like a type of Matriarch then you’ll have to act the part. Stand up slowly. Work out the stiffness in your muscles and act as calm as you can. You can’t afford to look weak in front of them. The moment any of us can see an opportunity for you to run we’ll take it.”

 

Apparently Lydia is planning something so I do as she suggests and I get to my feet slowly. Melissa, Boyd, and Isaac all help me with a few simply exercises and I’m glad I didn’t try to run, because my legs are stiff, and my butt is really numb. I work out the kinks where I can and finish with shaking out my body. I think I see the first man give me a slight nod at the end but I could have imagined it.

 

“You didn’t,” Erika is watching all of them like a hawk. “They smell more relaxed now, their heartbeats are calmer, and I think you’ve impressed them a little.” They’re also all staring at me like they’re waiting for something.

 

Politeness doesn’t always help but I try, “Thank you.” And they all give me a silent nod. “So, what’s next? ‘Cause I need to pee, and I’m getting hungry, plus I totally need my meds for my ADHD.” Maybe if I act like getting kidnapped is a daily occurrence they’ll relax even more so I can escape from them.

 

One of the guys with the tools says, “Your presence is requested in the main council room. They’re just waiting for your vote to carry out the sentence.” And that tells me nothing at all.

 

“What sentence?” I really hope it isn’t my death or torture.

 

“The death sentence for Peter Hale,” he says matter of factly and I stare him hoping I misheard him. I didn’t.

 

“Whoa, wait up, you want me, to voluntarily go into a room filled with some of the most dangerous human beings on the planet, so I can vote to murder my Mate?” Nope, no, no way. I knew hunters were crazy but this is beyond crazy even for them.

 

Then they up the creep factor by all saying, “We hunt those who hunt us.” And for the first time I have to really wonder just how hunters are trained to be remorseless killing machine, because that was far too like brainwashing and conditioning programming for me.

 

I know Peter’s been training me to accept him and our relationship, and he’s damn good at it, but I can remember the way Brad tried to train me. Of the two methods I prefer Peter’s. Though I’m beginning to suspect that hunters use the method closer to Brad’s and I really get why Mr and Mrs Argent wanted to spare Allison this life.

 

“Yeah, not gonna happen. Thanks for the invite, but I’m going to politely decline and flee the scene. Bye,” I bolt for the door. I know I’m not going to make it, there’s a guy standing by the door for a start, and I struggle as I’m grabbed and held by two of the men. Damn it. I just want a nice quiet life to be bored and play video games. Instead I’m dragged towards the door and potential doom. I also have endure Lydia’s, “I told you so.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You are all wonderful awesome peeps, thank you for the kudos and comments :)


	20. Chapter 20

Trying lots of different methods to slow them down, I fail at all of them. I try using my feet to walk backwards and they overpower me. I go limp so they have to carry my full weight and it doesn’t slow them in the slightest. The only time they really react is when I kick one of them and one of the other guys pulls his gun out.

 

“No kicking?” I ask innocently and they all glare at me. “Fine. No kicking.” I pretend to agree and then I’m back to being dragged along a hotel corridor towards the elevators. “So, anyone seen anything good on TV lately? If you’ve seen the ending of Lost don’t tell me, I still have to marathon that yet, and probably get some kind of guide online to understand the confused mess I’ve heard it’s supposed to be.”

 

 

They prod the button for the elevator and I can hear my pack debating how I can get out of this particular mess. It’s not looking good for me. And there is no way I’m going to agree to kill Peter. Not now anyway. When I first met him in Sacramento then sure, I’d have happily said yes. Since then he’s proved to me over and over how much I mean to him. Because of him I’m free of Oren, I’ve found out my dad still loves me, and for the first time in a long time I’m mostly happy.

 

Doesn’t mean I won’t leave him later on, but for now, I’m relatively content with him.

 

In the elevator the little numbers ding down and I sigh. If I was a kickass hunter like Allison or Chris I could fight my way free. Or if I was a were something I could use my cool powers to get away, of course these are hunters so they’d have probably just killed me by now, so supernatural anything is a bad thing for me to be right now.

 

We don’t stop at the lobby, but on the third floor. The doors open into a small reception area, an area filled with male hunters being all broody and scary. They watch as I’m dragged past them towards these really big double doors. I wave at the hunters and try to pretend I’m not terrified or screwed at this point. “Hey, how you guys doing? Good? Awesome.” Of course no one says anything, or tries to help me.

 

The double doors are opened and just like my pack told me, there is a huge freaking room. Like one of those really big conference or convention halls you see on TV. And it’s filled with row upon row of chairs. They’ve really packed them in. All of the chairs are occupied and all the Matriarchs turn around as I’m dragged down the centre aisle towards the stage at the far end. A stage with either a giant TV or projector up there, and it’s focused on the woman talking. She stops and joins in the spectator sport of Stiles watching.

 

“Hi,” I give them as much of a wave as I can and finally they make a noise, mostly a soft murmur, like a whisper goes through the room.

 

There are some steps in front of the stage and I’m carried up them and onto the stage itself. There are a couple of chairs and I’m manhandled into one of them before the guys step back. “If I try and make a run for it, you’re just going to catch me and bring me back aren’t you?” And the guys nod so I give a big dramatic sigh and slump in the chair.

 

My Chris is by my side and he looks nervous, “Be careful Stiles, these are some very powerful people.”

 

Erika makes a rude noise, “No. I vote he just acts like himself. If this pendant thing picked him, it’s because of who he is. He needs to be Stiles around them.” They square off in front of me and I try not to act like I’m watching them.

 

Lydia stands next to Erika, “I agree with her. Let them try and deal with Stiles, he’s flummoxed better opponents than these.”

 

“Don’t get cocky,” Chris snaps. “If he dies, we die. And we can’t step in to save him.” His hand is caressing his gun in its holster and I think if he could he’d probably have already started shooting people.

 

The woman on the stage claps her hands once and we all look at her. “Now that we’re all here, I propose we vote now. All those in favour?” Around the room it looks like every single hand goes up. “And those against?” All the hands go down and not one goes up. The woman looks at me, “Stiles? You need to vote too. Are you for or against the motion?”

 

I’m guessing this is the motion to kill Peter. And god help me, I’m totally conflicted about him but right now I’m against it. If anyone is going to kill him it’s going to be me. I act stupid though and ask, “What motion?”

 

“The one to kill Peter Hale for his crimes. He’s proven by his actions that he’s broken the Code,” She says in a very reasonable tone, “And he’ll die by the Code.”

 

I nod calmly and then say, “Okay, cool. I can see your point. I have a counter argument, which is no, and over my dead body.” I might still be in two minds about Peter, but he’s growing on me, and he’s shown me he can change, or at least fake the change, into a man I really could spend the rest of my life with, or until I can get away from him. If they’d come to me months earlier I’d probably be helping them off Peter, but not now. He’s proved better for my health than hunters ever have. “Touch my Mate and I’ll make sure you pay, horribly,” I have no idea how to carry out that threat, and I’m sure it’ll be something along the lines of glaring at them and sending them rude cards in the post, or TPing their homes, but I will do it with extreme prejudice, and I’m sure I can count on the ghouls to be really evil and destroy them for me.

 

Another ripple of sound runs through the room and it’s very disapproving, I turn my head so I can glare at them, “Hands off my Mate. He’s mine.” I add, “And where the hell where all of you during his murder spree in Beacon Hills anyway? Why the hell would you send the woman that murdered the Hales, and incidentally sent Peter into his insane revenge spiral there to deal with him? All she did was try to corrupt her niece, kidnapped Derek Hale, who was innocent, even if he does give of these serial killer vibes, and then tortured him as she tried to talk Allison into murdering him and Scott.” Folding my arms I stand up and don’t run, I snark, “I get that your Code is ‘We hunt,’ because you are all murder-y but don’t hide behind a fake Code, it just makes you look like bigger assholes than you already are.”

 

With that the crowd turns hostile. I get yelled at by almost all of them and then someone whistles loudly cutting through the noise. A much older woman is standing in the aisle and she must have had public speaking training because she projects her voice with ease, “Enough. Everyone sit down. I would like to know why Stiles is defending Peter Hale.” Grumbling erupts but quickly quietens down as the woman walks down the aisle towards me. She’s dressed in simple navy trousers and matching top that looks expensive. Her hair is swept up and back, only a few of the silver tresses have escaped and she’s holding herself regally. “Please Stiles. Perhaps you can enlighten us as to why you voted against the motion.”

 

Surprised I blink stupidly at her and then I straighten up and unfold my arms, “Thank you,” I stall and rapidly try to think of anything, anything at all. My pack are in a huddle and are whispering amongst themselves. “Um, well my biggest objection, from a purely personal side, is because Peter is my Mate. But I guess you don’t understand what a huge thing that is for werewolves. So I can only warn you, if you kill him, or me, then be prepared for the entire supernatural world to turn on you. Mates are sacrosanct. Utterly untouchable.”

 

I move on, if they’re dumb enough to ignore my warning, well I at least tried. “And from the non-personal side I would like to know how many people Peter killed before the Hale Arson that murdered his family.”

 

She smiles at me, “You already know the answer is none.”

 

“And do you know the number of people Peter has killed since we got engaged?” I ask her.

 

Nodding she chuckles, “Again the answer is none,” that’s not quite true, he has killed people that have either hurt me, or threatened me.

 

“So,” I hold my right arm up and show them the Mating mark, I even make it glow, “Peter is no longer a danger. He’s completely leashed as long as I’m there. He will only attack people that either hurt me, try to hurt me, or who take me away from him.” I wonder if they’ll work out that would mean they just hit his shit list in a big way.

 

The woman is nodding and smiling nicely, and then she says, “That’s all very true Stiles. The actions of Kate Argent would have been the main trigger to Peter Hale’s insanity. Except he did go insane and people, a lot of people, have died at his hands because of it. The Code is very clear about this. Because his actions, even though they were brought on by another’s actions, still condemn him. You have to vote yes. Mate or not. Husband or not. Peter is guilty.”

 

Another ripple of sound comes from the masses and they clearly agree with this woman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you for all your kudos, comments, and nice thoughts :)


	21. Chapter 21

Smiling up at me the woman in front of the stage tries reasoning with me, “Stiles you know his crimes. You were there in Beacon Hills for many of them. It was his Bite that turned your friend, against his will, into a werewolf.”

 

Scott is standing next to her growling, “I know that,” He snarls, “I was there too, kind of.” He starts to wolf out and his eyes glow golden, “I know real me can be an idiot, but even he would see how two faced you are. You preach a stupid Code you don’t live up to, and you expect us to live it, and then you break it all the damn time, and you never get punished. They bombed people to get to Peter, they killed hundreds, I bet you’ve not done a damned thing to them.”

 

Derek has to grab him and pull him away, “Scott, stop. They’re hunters, they’re monsters, you can’t trust them. They aren’t Allison and Chris.”

 

And that reminds me about recent events. I paste an insincere smile on my face and ask, “So does that mean the hunters that murdered hundreds of people by bombing Miami, just to get to Peter, are going to die too?”

 

Another woman in the crowd stands up and yells out, “They’ve already been tried and been found innocent. Stop evading your responsibilities Matriarch Stilinski. You agreed to live by the Code when you got in the car to come here. Everything was explained to you. Now live up to the Code and vote to kill Peter Hale,” Nearly everyone in the crowd nods and I’m once again confronted by the fact that hunters are freaking crazy.

 

“Stiles, no,“ Dad pops up next to me but I’ve had it with these crazies and I start to lose my temper.

 

“Oh my god! Can you even hear the shit you spout? You pretentious, bigoted, murdering, asshole!” I know my arms are flailing but the hunters have really pissed me off. “Your hunters freaking ambushed us by crashing into our car, your hunters shot dead the driver and the bodyguard assigned to me, and your fucking hunters shot my Mate while you dragged me away. Then you injected me so I’d be unconscious and I’m guessing easier to kidnap. You tied me to a chair with metal restraints so I couldn’t get out of them, and your asshole hunters dragged me from that room and into this one. When the fuck did I agree to become a murderer? I don’t remember joining your little murder club! So stop trying to make me agree to kill one of the two people in this world that gives a damn about me!” I’m all out yelling at the end and I stand there panting afterwards as the women stare at me in shock and I’m probably going to be shot now.

 

No one says anything for a few minutes and I worry that I actually broke them but Derek’s still standing with Scott and they’re both sniffing the area, “No,” Derek says, “They smell upset, horrified even.”

 

The woman in front of the stage clears her throat and it’s shockingly loud right now, “Stiles? Has anyone told you why you’re here?”

 

“No,” Well yes, my dream Chris seems to think I’m some kind of Matriarch, because a necklace told the hunters I am one. I can’t resist a jab at them though, “I just assumed it was to torture me, beat me up, or kill me.”

 

They’re shocked when I say it and I may have upset them, to the point that a voice somewhere out in the crowd asks, “Why would you think that? Why would any hunter harm you?”

 

The answer comes from behind me, I’ve been doing my best to ignore the men that dragged me down here, “Because he’s a wolf whore. He spreads his legs for wolves, and whores like him can tells us what we need to know. That’s why you wanted him in one piece, to get information from him.” I twist to look at the man that spoke and he’s so damn sincere.

 

“What did you just call him?” Is growled from the woman on the stage with me. It’s very wolfish but I keep that observation to myself.

 

I do get to see five grown hunters all cringe as they realise they’ve fucked up somehow. The man coughs nervously, “Wolf whore Matriarch.” And I roll my eyes at him, because of course wolf whore is going to be a thing for hunters.

 

This time the whole room seems to growl and the men shrink in on themselves. If I wasn’t caught up in this I’d find it hilarious, for once the hunters are actually in trouble.

 

Striding across the stage, the woman steps around me, and in the deadliest voice I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard several deadly voices, many of them aimed at me, she asks, “Why are you calling a Matriarch a wolf whore?”

 

“I didn’t Matriarch,” He’s gone so white and he’s shaking so hard now I wait for him to faint or something. I’d feel bad for him but he called me a whore.

 

“But you did,” She points at me, “Stiles Stillinski is a Matriarch, a Matriarch chosen by the pendant,” She draws breath to keep talking but the man really does faint and lands with a thump in an untidy pile on the stage.

 

“Act surprised,” Erika hisses in my ear, not that I need to act because I finally witnessed a hunter faint. And the other four hunters are huddling together. It’s nice to see them act like the prey they normally hunt.

 

Though Erika does have a point and I put my hand up, “Um, hi, I have a question. Why did you just call me a Matriarch? Just because I’m in a relationship with another guy does not make me the girl, and frankly Peter does all of the cooking if you’re going to be sexist about it. You should try his Italian food, it’s out of this world.”

 

Leaving the cowering hunters alone the woman comes back to me, frowning hard, I take a step back from her and wait. “Stiles Stilinski, you are a Matriarch because the pendant the first Matriarch created has written your name on itself.”

 

I stare at her and go, “Huh?”

 

“Allow me Matriarch Gemma,” the woman in front of the stage says. She ascends the stage like she owns the place and comes closer to us, “I would suggest calling in the Cadre. This, this,” She pauses as if searching for a word, “Debacle cannot be allowed to continue. I would ask that they investigate from the point that Peter Hale came to Miami, through to this moment in time.”

 

At the word ‘Cadre’ the room made a collective gasp and my Chris and Derek went a weird green colour like they wanted to faint too. “Um, what’s the Cadre?” I ask, “’Coz that name doesn’t sound very reassuring.”

 

The woman just smiles, “Nothing for you to worry about Matriarch Stiles. You have nothing to hide from them.”

 

“Yeah,” I drag the word out, “That’s not helping me not worry you know. “ She pats my shoulder and I fight the urge to flinch at her touch.

 

“For now, you will be staying with me, as my guest. In the morning we will reconvene, and the Cadre will give us their findings. Come along Stiles, you must be tired and hungry,” she slips her arm through mine linking us together like we’re really great friends. I’m tempted to stand still when she steps forward but I’m guessing I’ll just be ‘persuaded’ to follow her if I don’t play along.

 

My Chris paces next to us as we walk down the stairs and through the middle of the room to the double doors, “Stiles. Be very careful.” I would dignify that with a response but the only one I can think of is duh. “No, I mean they’re calling in the Cadre, that’s bad, that’s very bad.” I still don’t know who the Cadre are. “They are who the Matriarchs call when hunters can’t contain or eliminate a threat. They are the best of the best. Even Matriarchs have died at their hands, and they’re nearly unstoppable in fights, they can take on multiple Alphas at a time.”

 

That is seriously not good.

 

We’ve reached the end of the room and my nice captor turns the door handle, “Now I just need to get my Bill and a few of my men, and then we can get you settled in my suite, I have a few rooms you see, you can have one so you can freshen up and catch up some of your sleep. I’ll have some food sent up too, I doubt you’ve eaten much, and I’ve been stuck in this meeting most of the day.”

 

I meekly walk beside her as a group of four men come towards us. They give her respectful nods and they glare at me. Falling in around us they keep pace as we go to the elevator and I watch as one of them prods the button for the fifth floor. Good we aren’t going up too high. I won’t completely rule out escaping out of the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, work is crazy, again, will keep squeezing in writing time when I can.


	22. Chapter 22

The suite I’m taken to is adequate.  Peter would hate it.  There are three bedrooms, each with their own poky little bathroom and equally tiny shower, and you can’t get more than one person in the bathroom without breaking the laws of physics. I’m not even sure you can get the bathroom door closed if you sit on the toilet.  There’s a main living area with two couches, and a small dining room table with four chairs. The bedrooms have a double bed in them and a wardrobe.

 

Standing in the bedroom I’ve been given I notice a distinct lack of windows I can climb out of.  No wonder she was fine with babysitting me. The only way out for me is the main door into the hotel.  Unless I could get into a different room and then out a window that way, though I don’t know how I’m supposed to climb down without killing myself.

 

Searching the room as quietly as I can, the door is ajar because they won’t let me close it, I try and find anything that could help me.  The bible is pointless, though I guess I could throw it at someone.  The hair-dryer is old and attached to the wall.  I do find stationary that matches the hotel name, so either they are going out of their way to fool me into thinking I’m in a different hotel or I really do know which hotel I’m being kept in.

 

I carefully avoid staring at the phone by the side of the bed.  I’m debating phoning someone but I doubt they’ll be stupid enough not to track any calls I make.  And I’m betting on them recording them too.  I need someone I can call without giving anything away.  My pack have hunted my cell phone down, it’s powered off, and sitting in a pile of equipment in a safe in the main lobby area, the chances of me getting to it are slim to none.

 

There’s nowhere to sit except the bed and I’m too nervous and worried to sit on the bed.  I don’t want any of them coming in and seeing me on a bed.  I rub at my wrist near my Mating mark, there’s a red ring all the way around both of my wrists from the restraints.  Stroking my Mating mark I use it to help me calm down as I sit reluctantly on the bed.  I need to stay as clear headed as possible.  If I get a chance to run I have to do it quickly.

 

Boyd settles next to me and we’re going to do a few breathing exercises when the Mark on my wrist flares and I jump and flail a bit in surprise.  The simple act of Peter touching his Mark too has me calming down quickly, he has to be healing if he can stroke his Mark.

 

Beside me Boyd is frowning and then he says, “Tap your Mark like this,” and he shows me what he wants by tapping his finger on his wrist, it’s a series of short taps and long taps.  I mimic him as he explains, “We learnt Morse code at ROTC, you’ve just told Peter, ‘OK’.”  I’ve heard of Morse code, and I’ve seen it in movies, and I can’t keep the stupid grin off my face, because I can talk to Peter, we’re communicating, and I’m not so shut off from the rest of the world.

 

Peter on the other hand has stopped touching his Mark so I tap out OK again.  I get a series of long presses and a short tap in the middle.  Boyd has his head cocked to one side and he says, “Peter just tapped out the letter Y.”  It must mean yes.  He’s just told me he’s okay.  A different set comes over and Boyd tells me it's the letter U.  I just repeat back the sequence for Y to tell him I’m okay too.

 

A very different flare comes from the Mark. I shiver at the pleasant sensation and it’s Scott that vanishes and then pops back, “Peter’s kissing his wrist.  He’s also told Ms Williams about you using Morse code, they’re running around a lot so they can ask you stuff.”

 

Pressing my own lips to my Mark I smirk as Peter stops touching his Mark. I bet that surprised him. I get Boyd to tell me how to tap out ‘Kiss’ and I grin when I get a Y back.

 

“Stiles,” Derek is standing by my bedroom door, “Someone’s coming.” I swipe my finger around my Mark and try to act innocent when the woman stops outside and knocks on the door.

 

“Matriarch Stiles?  The food is nearly here.  Please join me in the main room,” It’s not really a request more of a command.

 

“’Kay, I’ll be right there,” I call out and Peter’s tapping a new word for me.  How am I supposed to tell him quickly that I have to go?

 

“BRB,” Scott points out, “It works for gaming, and he plays online with you, he should know what it means.”  And that’s a brilliant idea, he knows BRB means be right back.

 

“He just said R U Safe,” Boyd tells me and I tap out Y in reply.  Then Boyd helps me tap out BRB before someone gets suspicious and comes to see what I’m up to.

 

I don’t have time to see what Peter’s going to reply with as I hurry out of the room I’m in. I try and act like I’m not in a rush or covering anything as I get to the main room.  It’s just the woman and only one of the four men.  “Ah, there you are Matriarch Stiles,” she motions a hand to the dining table as the man jumps and stares at me. “Please sit.  It’s not much but it’s better than nothing.”

 

I do as I’m told as my Mark flares with the OK sign from earlier, Peter got my message. I watch as she takes some things off of a cart and puts them on the table.  There’s three bowls of soup, tomato from the smell, and lots of bread.  The man doesn’t help her, he simply sits down.  He’s taller than me, and broad like Boyd and Derek, his red hair and beard are shot through with grey and he’s dressed in classic hunter black.

 

I’m allowed to pick whichever bowl I want.  They can’t see Derek and Scott lean over the table to sniff everything, “They’re okay,” Derek reassures me and I take the bowl closest to me and some bread.

 

My last meal was at lunch, I’m hungrier than I realised but I make myself eat slowly. If I suddenly have to run I don’t want to make myself ill because I stuffed my face.  We eat in silence and mull over what’s happened.  In theory the fact that I’m being fed, have my own room, and they thought I came here of my own free will are all good things.  I’m going to have to test the limits of my captivity though.

 

Dunking some bread in the soup I carefully start prodding at those limits, “Hypothetically.  If I were to walk out of this hotel and just go home, what would happen to me?”

 

The man stops eating and glares at me, the woman finishes chewing and then says, “Nothing, because there’s no reason for you to leave this hotel.”  We both carry on eating and I mentally applaud her for side stepping that.  I’m tagging it as lethal consequences to me until proven otherwise.

 

“I have ADHD,” I start dunking more bread.  “I find going for a walk before dinner is great for calming me down to sleep.”  I leave it in her court.

 

A flicker of a smile crosses her face, “This hotel has an excellent gym with walking machines.  I’m sure Bill,” she reaches out to touch the man’s arm, “Would be happy to escort you down there and back again.”  Bill scowls but nods.  Bill will not be happy to escort me down there and back again.

 

“And I need an escort because?” I fish like it’s a reasonable question.

 

“To make sure you stay safe, and that you don’t get lost, of course,” She says it sweetly and with concern.

 

Humming a noise I nod and then add, “Peter nearly always manages to arrange for me to walk outside, less boring, more things for me to focus on, because, you know, ADHD.  I like my walks with Peter.”

 

Bill puts his spoon down and really glares at me while she actually laughs, “Oh Stiles.  You are good.  Very clever dear boy, but no, you either walk in the gym, or you stay in the room.  You’ve already been kidnapped once, and we’re waiting for the Cadre to come back to us in the morning. I won’t risk you.”

 

Turning my attention to Bill I give him my biggest, widest smile, “So Bill.  You and me.  Gym.  It sounds as amazing to you as it does to me doesn’t it.”  I find out Bill has a facial tic and he grinds his teeth too.  “Awesome,” I keep eating my soup and munching on bread.

 

Changing tack I go with, “So am I allowed to phone anyone?  You know to stop them worrying about me?  What with the kidnapping and stuff that happened.  There is a phone in the room you’re letting me sleep in.”

 

“It’s disconnected from calling out,” She’s almost finished her dinner and with that she confirms my true status.  I’m a prisoner.  A fed and cared for prisoner, as long as I behave, and as long as they don’t get pissed off with me, but I am a prisoner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello All,  
> I'm back! ... kind of.   
> I can't tell you exactly what my posting schedule is, because I don't know, and I refuse to make promises to you I might not be able to keep.  
> Fun fact if you're interested, music I listen to for this series is: Katy Perry - Wide Awake, and Tenth Avenue North - On and On.  
> Things haven't been great (I won't bore you with the many, many, many crappy things that have been happening), but I'm getting there, slowly. Okay, so I'll tell you a little, because of reasons. I may have mentioned that I lost my mother in March 2013 (almost on Mothering Sunday and my birthday), since then we've lost the house, been homeless, I've lost a close friend to a bee-sting of all things, I lost my dad in Oct 2014 to badly managed diabetes (type 2) and several big heart attacks, I kind of broke after that, I've been to counselling and been on anti-depressants (which are really weird when they put you on the ones that work for you), I walked out of my job because I couldn't handle it and it was making my mental health worse. Oct 2015 I ended up in hospital for what I thought was dehydration brought on by vomiting and diarrhea, turns out I have diabetes type 2 as well. Things have started to take a turn for the better now though. We have a social housing place that is nice, with good neighbors. I have a nice place to work, that is supportive and wants me to be happy. The doctors are attempting to get me off the anti-depressants, so far so good, I'm on the lowest dose now, next step in summer is to wean me off them. I'm no longer on insulin, I'm diet and pill controlled and my blood sugar is steady, I've had to take up exercise (urgh, I hate it, but the alternative is worse), I've managed to lose over a stone in weight (or 6.3kg), just one more to go. And I finally have some time/energy left over at the end of a day to write, or even want to write. I'm taking it one day at a time, so please bare with me, and I hope you enjoy this offering :)  
> Cheers GP13


	23. Chapter 23

Using the excuse of needing my dinner to go down before going to the gym, I use the time to tap out messages to Peter.  While it’s amazing to be able to send him messages, it’s frustrating too. I did manage to tell him the name of the hotel, my floor number, and room number.  I also told him I’ve eaten and I’ll be going to the gym.  He managed to tell me that there are things watching the hotel and that they are coming to get me.  They need more time.

 

In the end I sent a couple of pack to spy on Peter and they told me more.  The ghouls have sent out emergency messages, there are all kinds of things coming to rescue me.  Groups of supernaturals that normal hate each other are agreeing to work together to save me.  Mates are a huge thing and no one likes, or trusts, the hunters.

 

I send a few other words to warn them, things like Cadre.  They freaked over that word and then I had to go to the gym with Bill.  Peter told me to be careful and since then the Mark has been silent.

 

Kind of like this hotel.

 

It’s the dead of night as I stroll through the lobby with Bill.  He’s so not happy with babysitting me.  I pretend not to notice, and I also pretend I’m not scoping out the lobby.  Even now there are guys patrolling, all of them glare at me.  Right up until a masked man in black walks out of a back room, they all pretend they don’t see the masked man, and act like they are really interested in patrolling, and not being anywhere the man is.

 

“Cadre,” Chris mutters and I really want to roll my eyes at how clichéd being dressed in black is, the stupid mask is just over kill.  It covers everything, only his eyes aren’t covered.  It looks cool on superheroes, on him, he’s just a douche.

 

A douche that angles to intercept us. 

 

Bill shoves me behind him and my estimation of Bill goes up a few notches.  “Can I help you?” He puts himself squarely between me and the masked man.  All the man does is point at me.  That can’t be good.  Bill stands up a bit straighter, “He’s with Matriarch Matilda Argent.  If you need to talk to him go through her.”

 

“Stiles,” Derek is staring behind me.  “There are three more of them behind you.  They’re coming closer.”

 

Aw crap.

 

I only wanted a walk and maybe a way to bolt out of here.  I have no interest in getting caught up in crazy hunter stuff. I want to avoid crazy hunters and their stuff as much as possible.  Apparently that isn’t going to happen.  And then the man in front of us reaches up slowly and pulls his mask off.  All it does is reveals a cold eyed guy with buzzed dark hair and an air of don’t mess with me.  “The Commander ordered us to accompany Matriarch Stilinski until morning, when the Commander can assume protection himself.” There’s no inflection in his voice, it’s almost robotic.

 

“Us?” Bill takes his eyes off the guy in front of us to look behind, “Fuck.” He’s probably seen the other ones behind us.  Nervously he turns back to the first guy, “I have to talk to Matriarch Matilda about this.  She didn’t mention it to me.”

 

“The Commander ordered us,” Is all he gets back.  I’m now betting heavily on brainwashing being part of hunter training, either that or some kind of operation to remove their humanity, and ability to think for themselves.

 

Gently Bill ushers me to one side, right next to the reception desk.  We’re flanked by the guys in black the whole time. Bill grabs a phone by leaning over the reception desk.  It’s at that point that one of the masked guys does a few impressive jabs and Bill drops like a stone.

 

Trapped with the reception desk at my back and four highly trained killers in front of me I tense for the attack that’s about to occur.  Only the unmasked man bows to me and motions his hand to gesture deeper into the hotel, “Matriarch Stiles Stilinski, the Commander will see you now.  Please follow me.”

 

Pressing myself up against the desk I shake my head, “You know what, I’m thinking I don’t need a walk right now, I’m kind of tired, I should go to bed.”  A bed far away from these guys and the Commander.  Oh my god, how do these shitty things keep happening to me?

 

“Yes Matriarch,” The guy says and asks, “Do you want to sleep in Matriarch Matilda Argent’s suite or would you like your own set of rooms?”

 

My jaw drops open and I stare at him.  Did he just listen to what I said?  “Yes,” Dad’s staring at them thoughtfully.  “Ask them what the Commander will do if you go to sleep without seeing him first.”

 

“Um, okay, so hypothetically, what’s your best guess of what the Commander’s going to do if I just go to sleep, without seeing him first?” I babble it and wait tensely for the answer.

 

“The Commander will continue in his duties, as given to him by the Matriarchs, until he gives his report. He would prefer to speak to you first to gain your eye witness account of what happened,” Is not at all what I’m expecting.

 

“Huh.” Dad leans in to study the man, “Ask them what they’ll do if you leave the hotel.”

 

I parrot his question and the man in front of me blinks, “We would advise against it. It’s harder to protect you out there. Miami is not a secured area.  You’re a Matriarch with no combat skills to defend yourself with.”

 

My pack go into a mini huddle, so I stand there uselessly wondering just how far I can push these four guys.  They have to have some kind of top level instructions and they probably include not letting me wander off into Miami.  “Stiles,” Lydia is frowning at the men, “Try going for a walk outside, stick to the hotel grounds, see how they react.”

 

“Okay, well I think I will go for that walk now.  I’ll just go for a circuit around the hotel, nothing big, or far from the hotel,” I give them my most sincere smile, the one no one who knows me trusts.

 

“Yes Matriarch,” Is all the man says and I edge away from the desk.  They part for me and I walk slowly towards the lobby doors as they form a semi-circle behind me and start to follow me.  The other hunters are staring at me and don’t seem to know what to do anymore.

 

Chris paces next to me, “Stiles, this may be a test.  Don’t wander too far. They could be setting you up so they can get evidence of Code breaking, and then they’ll execute you.”  Or they could be letting me find my own secluded area so they can execute me away from prying eyes, “Exactly.”  Not a very comforting thought at all.

 

Stepping out of the hotel I stop just outside and take some deep breaths.  Finally I can get some air that isn’t air conditioned and it’s hot, sticky, and humid.  It does smell like the sea though and I perk up, maybe I’ll get to see the ocean while I’m here, maybe I can splash about in it a bit.  Jackson snorts and rolls his eyes at me, I ignore him and live in my fantasy land of messing about on the beach with Peter.

 

With Chris’ warnings in mind, I follow Jackson as he finds a nicely lit path.  The grounds are fairly impressive and I saunter along like there’s nothing wrong.  I meander around the outside and I can see the path down to the beach, though I’m very careful not to even stray near it.  No need to antagonise my four shadows.

 

“Water!” A young girl’s voice calls out and I spin around in shock to see the little ghost girl standing on the path leading to the beach.  She’s still the same, and in the dark she stands out, as do the dark red bindings on her hands.  Wiggling her fingers at me like she’s waving she does a little dance, “Water, water, water, water.”

 

I have no idea who she is, or why she’s only ever said one word to me, but I do know things happen whenever she turns up and I wonder if she’s some kind of harbinger spirit, if those even exist.

 

“They don’t,” Derek says peering at the girl.  “Be even more careful. The first time you saw her Peter was attacked, and the second one was when he escaped.”  Aw crap, Peter. Something must be happening to Peter, I need to get out of here and find him.

 

Scott vanishes and then pops back, “Peter's fine, he's with the ghouls planning how to get you out of here.”  Which is good but doesn't let me know why the girl appeared again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to all of you for your lovely messages :) You are all too kind and wonderful.


	24. Chapter 24

“Matriarch?” Brings me back to reality with a bump. Damn I’m surrounded by hunters with no way to really do anything.  They can't know I'm anything other than strictly human.

 

“Water?”  And the ghost girl drifts closer to me with a slight frown as she stares at the men near me.

 

“Um, yeah?” I find the men scanning the area the girl was standing a few seconds ago.  Luckily they can’t see her or know that she’s moved to stand near me.

 

“You startled.  Did you see something?” The unmasked man is watching me with his expressionless face.

 

“Um, no?” Crap, I can’t let them know I can See things, they’ll think I’m not human and kill me.  “I mean no, no there’s nothing there, so no, I didn’t see anything.”  And that’s not a suspicious way for me to act at all.

 

He’s still expressionless but I know he’s not fooled for a second, “If you say so Matriarch.  What would you like to do now?”

 

Beside me there’s a giggle and out of the corner of my eye I see the girl skip over to the beach path and point, “Water!”  Clearly she wants me to go down there.

 

On impulse I point where she’s pointing, “Can I go down there?”  And most of my pack are instantly arguing against it.  Their arguments range from dumb, to not letting the Cadre take me somewhere dark to kill me, to not trusting the ghost girl. Isaac is the only helpful one, he’s gone to peek at Peter again, who is still safe and sound, though getting grouchy and snarking at people because I’m not there.

 

“Yes Matriarch,” And the guy steps over to the path and nearly tramples the girl, she glares at him, not that he can see her.

 

“Awesome,” I beam at him and wonder if I dare even joke to Peter about getting our own brainwashed bodyguards, because he’d probably take me up on the offer and then I’d be tripping over scary robot minions or something.

 

Trooping down to the beach we’re soon off the path and onto sand.  Away from the main bustle of the city I can hear the waves as they caress the beach.  It’s too dark to see much but the girl runs down to where I’m sure the water is, calling out, “WATER!”

 

If I didn’t have my scary bodyguards, slash jailers, I’d be laughing at how excited she is just to see the ocean.  This far from the hotel it’s really dark and I turn to look back at the city.  It’s bright and cuts through the night. There’s so much life there, just like New York.

 

My vision flickers and I can see it, all the grey and brown of the buildings, the butter yellow of people moving around, the other colours of others things and creatures like accent points in the hubbub of city life.  Behind me the blue of the water, deep, strong, powerful. Above me the muted distance whisper of the air, and under my feet the chained sleeping earth.

 

Wait.

 

Chained?

 

Looking down I frown at the dark red lines that run through the earth holding it in place.  Kneeling down I touch the sand and the dark red line just under it.  The line sucks at my finger draining me.  I jerk it back and really study the lines.  They aren’t holding the earth in place, they’re draining it and making it sleep.

 

“Stiles,” Someone whispers my name and I glance up to see the ocean rush up the beach.  “Stiles,” It seems to breathe my name.  “Stiles.”

 

“What?” I murmur under my breath hoping my jailers won’t notice.

 

“Stiles, free them,” Sighs the water and the little girl nods and holds her bound hands out to me.

 

I have no idea how to free her, “How?” I ask as quietly as I can.

 

“Find the one that bound them.  Kill the hunter that did this,” And of course it comes back to the hunters.  “Set them all free.  Stop him.  Broke his Code.  Hidden.  Find him,” and with that the ocean sighs and goes quiet, I’m left with a sad looking ghost who wiggles her fingers at me and vanishes, and damp jeans where I’ve knelt in the moist sand.

 

“Matriarch!” Someone is shaking my shoulder and I flinch away from them.

 

Flailing upright I fend him off, “Stop it, I don’t like being touched.”

 

“My apologies Matriarch but you didn’t answer,” He takes a few steps back to give me some room.

 

Derek is giving him one of his best glares, “They tried rousing you, but the water had your attention, then you came out of your trance.  You were unresponsive for about four minutes in total.”

 

It doesn’t feel like four minutes, “Yeah, sorry guys, guess I’m more tired than I thought. I should totally go inside and get some shut eye. Um, you mentioned I could have my own room?”  When in doubt gloss over and carry on like nothing happened.

 

“Yes Matriarch, if you follow me, I’ll show you to your own room,” He edges off towards the hotel and I reluctantly trail in his wake.  Behind me the waves lap at the shore and I swear it sounds like the water is hoping I have good dreams.  Damn I could do with talking to Uncle Richard right now.  He isn’t the normal type of Shaman, he’s too tied into guarding what he guards, and it’s warped his magic so it’s more useful to him.  And I’m a Spark so I don’t do things the same as anyone else, but he does often help me sort things out.  I daren’t phone him because the hunters will be monitoring me.

 

Scuffing my feet as I walk up the path I ponder what the water told me.  Obviously there’s a hunter here who is doing something they shouldn’t. And that really is just business as usual for them. The lines I saw were dark red and they were sucking power.  Technically hunters have to be pure human, or else.  Their Code demands they die if they get infect with supernatural stuff. It doesn’t stop them though and really they tend to keep being allowed to get away with shit even if they get caught.

 

Yawning I wonder how much sleep I’m going to be able to get surrounded by murderous hunters, and worrying about Peter, and me, and my dad, and the hunter the water wants me to either off or make them stop doing whatever they’re doing.  And I still have to survive the murderous hunters, insane Matriarchs, who think I’m a Matriarch and that I’m simply going to vote to murder Peter, all with the supernaturals mounting some kind of big rescue operation to get me out of here.  Knowing the plan Ms Williams originally had they’ll probably try massacring the hunters at the same time.  And if Peter joins in the attack the body count will rocket.

 

All I want to do is go home.

 

Strangely enough with Peter.

 

Entering the rear of the hotel I get to see where the gym is, and a spa complex.  There are two restaurants, a bar, and a games room.  My jailers don’t stop and they escort me up to the sixth floor. I'll have to tap out my new hotel room to Peter. We see absolutely no one the whole time.  When we reach a door they turn to it and I have to wait outside as two of them go and search it.

 

My Chris is impressed with how thorough they’re being. I lean on the hall wall and play with the rings on my ring finger.  Eventually they decide it’s clear and I’m allowed inside.  It’s not that different from Matilda’s suite except there’s only one bedroom and this one does have a window and balcony.  Only it’s too high up for me to escape out of easily.

 

The men loiter in the main room while I explore and I do my best to hide my nervousness from them. I really don’t like the idea of guys being anywhere near my bed, or potential bed.  I’ve had too many bad experiences to be able to relax with them too close to me.

 

A single knock on my hotel door has them all shifting from relaxed to hyper alert in an instant.  I’m shooed back and they very quickly, and efficiently, set out to check out the door and whoever’s on the other side of it.

 

The man checking the spyhole relaxes and opens the door with a simple, “Commander.”

 

Aw crap.

 

This is the guy that wanted to talk to me earlier.  I was hoping I’d get some time to myself so I could tap out messages to Peter.  The man who just opened the door turns to me and asks, “Matriarch, the Commander is wondering if you are free to speak to him yet?”

 

He’s cornered me in this room, I’m surrounded by his men, and I’m so freaking sick and tired of never having a choice in anything.  I nod like I’m allowed to say no but I’m choosing to say yes, and I wait for this new guy to walk into the hotel suite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, thank you so much for being so very patient with me. You are all awesome :)


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry life got a little crazy again. Not mine, thankfully, but I've had to help out. Think things are quietening down, may they stay that way.  
> And here is more for you. :)

He’s dressed identically as his men, in that he’s uniform is black, but he’s mask-less.  His blond hair, streaked with grey, is slightly longer than buzzed, and the silver lion pinned to his chest has more colour to it than his eyes.  They’re cold and lifeless.  Well, more hard and freaking scary, than the average person’s.

 

“Matriarch Stilinski,” His voice has zero inflection to it and I revise my earlier opinion, his eyes are twinkling stars of joy compared to his voice.  “Thank you for seeing me,” Like I even had a choice.  He motions to the small dining table I have in the hotel room.  “I have some questions for you.”

 

Wanting to flee from the room, I eye up the table and wonder if I could make it out of the door, before they caught me and dragged me back.  Jackson is leaning by said door and snorts, “No. Idiot.”  Unfortunately, I agree with Jackson’s assessment and I slouch over to a chair and sit down, under protest.

 

The very scary man sits down opposite me and puts a tablet on the table, he taps on it a few times and then looks up at me, “Let’s begin.  Matriarch, please can you answer these questions as openly and as honestly as possible.  If you’re confused by anything, or require clarify on anything, just ask.  If you need to stop for any reason just say ‘Stop’. If you require any refreshments these can be provided for you.  Do you understand?”

 

“Yeah,” I nod and keep my hands in my lap.

 

Tapping a bit more on his tablet he nods and says, “Recording of interview with Matriarch Stiles Stilinski.”  He goes on to say the time and date, and wow it is getting early in the morning, I don’t think I’m going to get any sleep tonight now.  Damn I hate operating with little to no sleep.  “Matriarch, can you please tell me the events that occurred when the car you were travelling in was stopped, and then continue through to the point that my men extracted you from Matriarch Matilda Argent’s husband Bill Argent.”

 

“Bill was her husband?” I ask and he nods, “Huh, that explains why he ate with us then.” I stall a bit as I decide how much to tell this guy.

 

“Everything,” My Chris says.  “He’ll find it out one way or another, if you’re honest with him now, and don’t conceal too much, he’s more likely to believe you later on.  And your statement is going to make the hunters that took you look very bad.”

 

No one can think of a reason to conceal anything, except me using the Mark to communicate with Peter, so I settle down and drag out every detail I can think of.  My pack are with me every step of the way, they saw lots too, so I’m able to give a very detailed account of the attack.  I end up running my finger around and around my Mating Mark to keep calm during parts of it, the visuals of the murdered driver and bodyguard are very jarring and hard to deal with.  Peter being shot has me shaking in my chair, Boyd and Isaac settle next to me and get me through it.

 

Keeping my voice as level and as calm as I can, I move on to being drugged, waking up, being freed, and then my aborted escape attempt.  That gets the man’s attention, his eyes narrow.  I plough on as I tell them about being dragged to the hall.  How I was asked to vote for Peter’s murder.  And then to really stall I try my best to give a word for word replay of the conversations that happened.

 

The parts where I had to go with Matilda are easy.  I gloss over Boyd’s brilliant idea about Morse code by not mentioning it and go to the meal.  I’m able to give him more details of my conversation with Matilda, and then I skim to the point that the four masked men corned us in the middle of the lobby, and how one of them took out Bill at the reception desk before I went for a walk with them.

 

“Thank you Matriarch,” The man nods, “That was a very thorough and detailed account and will help us immensely.”  He taps a bit more on the tablet.

 

Lydia’s leaning over his shoulder watching the screen, “He’s saving down the recording and starting a new one.”

 

“I have a few more questions for you please,” He glances up at me from the screen.  “Your husband Peter Stilinski came to Miami.  Please tell us why.”

 

It wasn’t even a question.  There’s nothing I really need to conceal here either, almost everything is available to them if they looked even half-heartedly for it.  “Peter flew into Miami to sign away some land.  He originally wanted to build on it,” Which is true and would follow the business pattern he’s been following in other areas, only he wanted to build on it so he could find out what was so damn important there.  The local hunters have guarded it fiercely for decades.  “Everything he’s tried to do to get the land developed has been blocked and he'd finally had enough.  We’ll never get back any of the money he spent on it, but it would stop being a drain on our business finances.” I shrug like it doesn’t matter.

 

“Hmm,” He just taps a few more times, “Your current business interests seem to lie in property.  And the Hawaii one also leans heavily into conservation.  I’ve also noticed a distinct increase in employee benefits, like expansion of medical insurance to family and some special cases of extended family.  There are others like help with nursery fees.  Increased numbers of vacation days.  Bonuses for areas in the business that hit projected targets.  You don’t always use established firms for work but go looking for new talents. The pension you offer is one of the best. I could go on, but overall the Wolf and Raven company is not only successful, expanding, but it also invests in communities, people, and where possible the environment.”

 

Some of those have been my ideas. I remember Mrs McCall and my dad struggling to get pre-school places for me and Scott while they worked.  How we never really got to have vacations with our then single parents.  And don’t get me started on how our insurance screwed us over with mom.  “We’re also looking into offering to part pay on adult education courses even if the course isn’t linked directly into the business.  People should get the chance to keep learning stuff, no matter their age.”  Mrs McCall had to scrape the money together to go on some of her courses.  Scott would bust his balls working so she didn’t have to get him allowance money, she could use it for another course, and then to pay for exams.  The more qualifications she could get the slightly higher she could push her salary up, also she’d be slightly safer from any job cuts, not that anyone is safe these days.

 

“Hmm,” He stares at me thoughtfully.  “Since you and Peter Stilinski journeyed together from California, has Peter murdered anyone?” I freeze because the answer is yes, “Let me rephrase that. Has Peter killed anyone that did not first threaten you?”

 

“No,” That I can answer honestly.  The only people that Peter’s hurt, or killed, had either hurt me, or had threatened to hurt me.

 

“Do you have a Mating Mark?  And if so can I see it please?”  Unsure I lift my right arm up and lay it down on the table, wrist up.  “Interesting.  It’s a red circle on the inside of your right wrist.  Does Peter Stilinski have one?”

 

“Yeah,” I draw the word out. I can’t see how he’ll use this against me, but maybe it will show me to be not human, and therefore free game for hunters to kill.  “It’s on his left wrist.”

 

“Thank you,” he goes back to tapping then carries on.  “While you were in Sacramento, the hospital, and police records we’ve tapped into, indicate you were in two very violent, abusive relationships.  Is there any reason you did not come to the hunters for help?”

 

Blind-siding me with Sacramento, and Brad, he totally throws me and I freeze again.  Retracting my arm from the table I bring it back to lap and anxiously link my fingers together. “Um,” Oh god what am I supposed to say?  My pack aren’t sure either so I go with the truth, “Because as bad as Brad, and Oren, were, they were better than the hunters.”

 

“Elaborate,” Is fired back. He doesn’t seem to be upset and Scott tells me all he can smell is curiosity.

 

“Because the hunters would have killed me, either after they’d used me as bait to kill Brad, or simply for being close to any werewolf, regardless of my circumstances.  Hunters kill, period.”  I struggle to keep my voice even this time and wait for his reaction.

 

All he does is nod and then asks, “Do you know the hunter Code?”

 

“We hunt,” I tell him, I refuse to add the rest, because that is total bullshit. They don’t wait until a wolf hunts them first, they simply hunt.

 

To my surprise a flicker of a smile might have just appeared before it vanished again, “In Miami you were in the company of hunters.  Why did you go to them?  That action invalidates your previous statements.”

 

“Um, because I wasn’t even aware that was where we were going.  Mr Argent took us there, and it turns out they follow the other code, ‘We protect those who can’t protect themselves’.  They were willing to go up against other hunters to rescue Peter,” I really hope I’m not going to get Caitlin into too much trouble for that.


	26. Chapter 26

He carries on with another question, “Having been in the company of those hunters, and the hunters here in this hotel, discounting the Cadre, which group would you choose to go to if you were in trouble with any supernatural creature?  And yes you can choose neither if you do not trust either group.”

 

I wasn’t expecting that and I mull it over.  Caitlin may have only helped us because Mr Argent was there, but she seemed genuine in wanting to help, in wanting to live up to her new Code.  “Um, maybe Caitlin?  I’m not sure.  Definitely not the hunters in this hotel, they’d kill me, or use me and then kill me.  Sorry, I guess neither is my answer?”

 

“So you would not turn to the hunters here in this hotel, but you are open to the idea of the other hunters, but you’re currently not sure if you could trust them,” He summarizes and I nod agreeing with him.  “Overall which group do you trust the most, the hunters, or the werewolves?”

 

Well this one is easy, and I up the level of answer I give, I want to know how he’ll react, “Werewolves.  The majority of them that I’ve met, that I know are werewolves, are cool.  The majority of hunters I’ve met are homicidal assholes.”

 

“The land that your husband bought here in Miami.  If you had a choice what would you do with it?” And these are some pretty random questions.  I pause to let my pack and me think about it.

 

Melissa is tapping a finger against her lip, “I’d dig it up.  The hunters are hiding something there.  They’ve allowed people to buy the land for decades, but then stop them doing anything with it.”

 

No one has any objection to the idea so I parrot it back, the man nods again, “Yes Matriarch.  With the events of both hunters and supernatural creatures in Miami very fresh in your mind, how would you judge the hunters that set the bomb?”

 

“Judge how?” I ask cautiously. I’m not sure what he actually wants from me and all my pack are watching him carefully.

 

“In the event of any trial being brought against them, what crimes would you say they’ve committed?  And what verdict would you give?  Innocent or guilty?”  He isn’t making a huge amount of sense to me.

 

My Chris steps forward, “Matriarchs often have to sit in judgement over other hunters, if they’ve stepped over lines, broken the Code, or just screwed up.  They make sure we toe the line.”

 

Oh. I flick my eyes to dad and he wanders closer to me. I’m fairly certain I know what I want to say but I let him sort through it and with his help I try to get it out correctly, it won’t mirror normal police and justice because they’d never see the insides of a normal courtroom.  “The hunters that set the bomb would have charges of domestic terrorism, murder, kidnapping, and torture brought against them at the very least.  They built a bomb with the express purpose of killing a large multitude of people, many of them harmless and helpless civilians, innocents with no known link to anything supernatural.

 

“Kidnapping, because they took Peter when he didn’t die in the initial attack.  Also because of the hunters they took, and tried to place the blame on,” All I get is a single blink from the man opposite.  “They tried to get the other hunters here in Miami into a war with the various supernatural beings that live here,” and they came damn close to it too.  If the ghouls’ researchers hadn’t found those video clips, the ghouls would have simply charged in and started slaughtering any hunter they could get their hands on.

 

“Multiple counts of murder in the first degree.  They knew the bomb would kill, and they knew the cloud of aconite released would kill anyone in the vicinity, including the first responders on scene,” And that really pisses me off, not only would all those hundreds of people die, but those like my dad would be murdered, just because they were doing their jobs and helping the victims.

 

“And kidnapping with unlawful detainment, with added torture for what they did to Peter when they had him in their merciless clutches,” I have to cling to my wrist a bit because I’m still shocked at how bad a state Peter was in when we got to him.  My Mark flares where Peter starts touching his and it’s kind of comforting, he’s still alive, he’s still there.

 

I fall silent and wait for the next question, “Matriarch Stilinski.  What would be your official verdict on those charges?  Innocent? Or guilty?”

 

Another easy one, I open my mouth to say ‘Guilty’, to see Scott give me a disappointed look, and I snap my mouth shut again.  Damn, I can’t just go guilty, “I don’t know, evidence would have to be gained. If they’re not guilty then whoever did it, did a bang up job of framing them.  They’d have to go to trial,” In New York it looked like the Clan was guilty and under their Lore they would die, but it turned out to be Martin’s real Alpha.  Real Scott and me threw the real Derek under the bus, twice, and he was innocent both times.  The old Sheriff of Wolf Creek completely ignored and broke the laws.

 

In Beacon Hills I used to bend a few laws myself, I used to fret at them getting in the way, now I can see that if you make a mistake, the wrong people get caught and the real criminals get away.  Like Kate and the arson, or Gerard and all the murders he did, or even Coach Lahey and his crimes.  Sometimes the laws get in the way, but they’re there to protect everyone, so mostly they should be obeyed.

 

After all I can always bend the rules if lives are at risk.  The moment lives are at risk the laws are more like guidelines.

 

“Yeah, I can’t give a verdict on this, this is too freaking big.  I’d need to be really sure that they were the right people, that everyone involved was caught, and that they weren’t framed for it,” I’m fairly sure I’ve given the wrong answer, hunters don’t wait for anything like that, they just shoot first and burn the bodies.

 

Scott circles behind the man and starts sniffing, “Hey bro, he’s really excited and happy right now.”

 

The other werewolves are sniffing the other men in the room, they have the same opinion and now I really don’t know what’s going on.  These are hunters, and they’re the hunters that the hunters are scared of.

 

“Even though it was your husband, your Mate, that was kidnapped and tortured?” He asks me.

 

“Yeah. Holy mother of god, because it’s Peter I’d have to be really sure.  I mean if I screw up and get it wrong, then the real criminals get away.  The people that hurt Peter would walk away and all those families that have lost loved ones won’t get any justice. Plus, what’s to stop the real criminals from doing it again, and again?” It’s an effort not to wave my hands around to emphasise my points, but Peter’s still touching his Mark, so I hang on for dear life to my wrist.

 

“In that case Matriarch, I thank you for your time, and help with this matter,” He taps his screen and stands up.  “Your transport will be ready in moments.  My hunters are ready and waiting to go.  Good luck,” He walks around the table and holds his hand out to me.

 

Staring at it, I get gingerly to my feet, and then shake his hand wondering what the hell is going on now.  His hand shake is firm, neither too hard, nor too soft, and there are callouses on his hand.

 

“Okay?” I’m completely baffled.  Hunters don’t make sense on a good day, right now they are so freaking crazy it simply doesn’t compute.

 

Instead of being allowed to go to bed, and sleep, I’m hustled off towards the door.  Then I’m lead down a corridor to a fire exit.  A Cadre is already waiting for us and he’s disabled the alarm on the door. I have to go down the stairs and I’m really worried about what’s going to happen to me.

 

They take me to the garage area.  There are four men in biking leathers waiting for us.  Behind them are four sleek looking bikes. I really hope I'm not on the back of one of those, the thought of having to hang onto a guy isn't that pleasant, plus I really don't want to have to spread my legs around any man, except Peter.

 

Another man is leaning against a dark coloured car, it's not the usual hunter SUV, it's way sportier, he nods to the Commander, “We managed to find a vehicle with the required safety specs for the Matriarch to travel in sir.”

 

“Good,” the Commander nods.  “You know your mission.  The Matriarch must survive, no matter the cost.  The rest of us will search and destroy all threats to the Code.  There will be no stone left unturned.  All those who have been breaking the Code will be punished.”  His already cold voice is Arctic now and I stand as still as possible so as not to attract anyone's attention.

 

Turning slightly the Commander nods to me, “Matriarch Stilinski, good luck on your journey.  I hope we meet again.  If not, the Cadre driving you is my replacement.”  With that he leaves and I'm ushered over to the car by the guy I'm guessing is my driver.

 

Sliding into the plush leather front passenger seat I still can't work out what type of car this is, it's like nothing I've ever seen before.  The seatbelts are like racing car ones.  The windows are tinted but only slightly.  The accents details are bright blue and as the guy settles into his seat and turns the car on I see why, the LEDs are all in blue too.

 

Moments later and we're leaving the hotel garage in the middle of the bikes.  The formation they're in suggests they're escorting us, or guarding us, and I wonder where the hell I'm being taken to now.  I just hope Peter can find me and get me out of this mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> :) Hope you enjoyed.

**Author's Note:**

> Unknown posting schedule due to unknown life schedule, will do my best, hope you enjoy.


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